I've Been Isekai-ed!
by Grimmjowlover314
Summary: Katie Nightwood was just an ordinary 24yr old freelance writer down on her luck. Then one day she awakens in Bleach as Shigeru Kuroi, a 16yr old substitute shinigami, and honestly she's loving it! "Ichigo, I've had 3 things in mind since being here: 1. Stopping you from being a complete idiot, 2. Being an awesome bad-ass, and 3. Making sure my hair looks fabulous while doing it!"
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I recently deleted a Bleach fanfic I wrote **_**YEARS **_**ago because I didn't really like it. Plus, it was only one chapter seeing as I lost interest in it long ago. But I've recently rewatched the Bleach anime from Rukia's rescue (mainly to see Ichigo vs. Kenpachi) to the end of the Winter War, and it inspired me to try out another fanfic idea. I've been reading a shitload of isekai manga (most be the new fab! Still love it!), so I figured I should try it out! I hope that whoever reads this story enjoys it, because I'm having a blast writing it! **

Chapter 1: So You've Chosen Death with Strawberries on the Side

"This shit _blows_," Katie huffs as she walks out of a high rise office building.

Katie ripped her hair out of the tight ponytail she'd forced herself to wear for the interview she'd just left. Dark brown waves blowing in the breeze as she walked down the busy city street in search of a well deserved lunch and possibly a stiff drink.

She's been job hunting for months now, and can't seem to catch a break. Ever since the incident her credibility had been in question, but it hasn't stopped her from doing her best and applying for as many writing jobs as she could get her hands on. She didn't want to work a job in some random clothing store or convenience store while looking for work, but between student loan payments, rent, credit card bills, and multiple streaming service, her funds were running dangerously low.

Katie removed her gray pinstripe blazer allowing the sun's rays to be absorbed into her brown skin. She then slung her purse back over her shoulder. She furrowed her brows as her frown deepened.

"_These heels are killing me. It's hot as hell, and I'm just so annoyed_," she thought as she entered a bar.

Katie slammed her purse on the bar causing the bartender to almost jump out of his skin.

"A double shot of your best tequila," she laughed and paused for a sec, "actually, make that like three doubles."

Katie stumbled up to her apartment a few hours later. The tequila effectively loosened her up from the stress she'd been bottling up and now she just wanted to sleep for days. She fished her keys out of her purse unlocking the door. Once inside she flipped on the lights to her two bedroom studio apartment. She dropped her keys and wallet on the marble kitchen counter while she kicked her heels off and to the side. Katie padded over to the fridge and snatched out the orange juice not even bothering to grab a glass as she downed it. She walked to her room to flop on her comfy bed but decided to change into a sleepshirt and to sober up just a little bit more before going to sleep.

She striped down and grabbed her favorite night shirt that had "I need my beauty sleep" written across it. Katie walked over to her body mirror and sighed. All the stress was causing her already permanent dark circle just a shade darker. She noticed a couple of small whiteheads near her chin. As she grabbed her brush she sighed deeply as she ran it through a few snags. A small smile graced her face as she watched her thick, layered waves stop just below her bra strap. She was actually proud that she managed to get her hair to look like it had been done professionally for the interview she had earlier, but it was a _pain _detangling her tight curls. And don't even get her started on how long it took to blowdry and straighten... black hair was always an adventure.

"What am I in the mood to watch," she hummed to herself as she skipped into her home office/woman cave.

As flicked on the light and breathed in the smell of books, pencil shavings, and cinnamon. The room was pretty big, three large bookshelves side-by-side filled with countless manga series from some of the best actions like _Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z_, dark, gritty series such as _Berserk_ and_ Hellsing_, the sweetest shogo _Kamisama Kiss_ and _Ouran_, and the epic shonens _Yu Yu Hakusho_, _Naruto_, _Shaman King_ etc. But it wasn't just manga she had because Karie was just an avid reader and had classics, a shitload of YA, and mythology books. On the opposite side resided her desk and computer, her large dry erase board positioned over it. Adjacent to the desk was her art supplies scattered about, some unfinished projects here and there. Anime wall scroll hanging on all the walls, and a shelf full of funko pop and other figurines. She flopped into her chair swirling a couple times.

She faced her bookshelf, "What haven't I seen in awhile? Something with some good fights."

Katie skipped over to her bookshelf with her hands tucked behind her head. She ran her fingers along the spines of her many books.

"Hmm, not _Tokyo Ghoul_...not really feeling _Fairy Tail _right now. Oh, haven't seen _Code:Breaker_ in a while…," she muttered thoughtfully.

Her fingers stopped at _Bleach_.

She grinned, "Oh it's definitely been a while since I've seen Ichigo getting his ass whooped. Alright, it's decided_ Bleach_ for the night!"

Katie flopped back into her chair, and started up her Mac monitor going to Hulu. She didn't really want to start from the very beginning, so she started at the Ichigo vs. Kenpachi fight. Kenpachi was one of her favorite captains, but then again she just had a thing for battle-crazed characters in any anime. They were always for excitable to watch, and there were so many characters like that in this series. Katie grinned as the oranged haired teen and the crazed, bell wearing man powered up their final attacks. After the episode was done she skipped to the actual rescue of Rukia, dramatics and all. She rested her chin on her as Byakuya and Ichigo started having their "who has the biggest dick" contest aka exchanging blows via Bankai. Byakuya was a favorite of hers too. Okay, she had like a dozen favorites in the series. Don't judge!

After watching the end of the Aizen's betrayal, she skipped over the Bount Arc completely landing on Grimmjow's first arrival. Okay, so if there was a stable ranking in Katie's mind on her favorite character within the series, he would be number 1. Not because he's hot. Not because of his brutal fighting style. And not even for his personality (though they do play a huge role in the ranking). He would be number one because of the way Ichigo got his ass handed to him by the blue haired arrancar. Just think about it for a sec. Ichigo was hot shit, and always managed to turn a battle around, you know that protagonist halo is really a thing, but Grimmjow destroyed him and damaged his pride. Something, in Katie's opinion, needed to happen to push him further as a character, but damn was it stunning to watch the first time around as a thirteen year old.

Katie's eyes began to get tired as she yawned into her fist. She shut down her computer and turned off the light as she exited. She quickly took out her contacts and flopped into her bed. Hugging one of her many pillows she let out a long sigh. She turned over with the pillow tight to her chest.

"Being an adult is such trash…I miss the days of no real responsibilities other than getting good grades. If I were a genius or a mad scientist I would've built an interdimensional watch or something by now," she grumbled as she kicked her cover to one side of the bed, "then I'd hope from my favorite anime series whenever I needed to escape from this shitty reality…"

She rolled to her right side to get comfortable and mumbled, "As if that'll ever happen."

Katie finally drifted off to sleep.

"_It's hot...why is it so hot,"_ she kicked her blanket off of her onto the floor.

She groaned grabbing her phone, squinting as the brightness assaulted her eyes as 10:47 am flashed back to her. It was Sunday, her "lazy day". Usually she would still be sleeping the day away, but between the heat in the room and her sweat, she was just too uncomfortable to stay in bed. Katie slowly placed her feet on the floor. She reached for her glasses that sat on the nightstand on the right to her, pushing the frames onto her face. Once she managed to get on her feet she dragged herself to the bathroom. Something felt different. She couldn't process everything, but something was just _off_. Sleep still clouding her mind, she didn't notice some of the minor changes to her environment.

"Am I catching a summer cold or something," she grumbled as she scratched her head, "my head feels kinda...heavy?"

Stumbling into the bathroom she flicked on the lights. Blinking dark circles from her vision until she could stare at her reflection in the mirror. She froze. Then suddenly rushed to the mirror.

"What. The. _Actual_. Fuck," she whispered as she gripped the sides of the sink so tight her knuckles started to quiver from the strain.

She looked younger! A spitting image from when she was in highschool only her dark circles were non-existent, her brown skin almost glowing and baby smooth, her hair grew quite a few inches touching her lower back (explaining the sudden heaviness), and her brown eyes seemed just a little brighter. She pulled at her nightshirt examining the rest of her body. Any childhood scars or moles that were scattered all across her body were unchanged. Even the ones she gained in adulthood. Her chest slightly fuller and her stomach spotting some definition that she'd lost as she got older from stopping her workouts. Her piercings and earrings were still the same. Everything was relatively the same, just youthful.

She ran back into her room and noticed some changes. For one it was slightly smaller and the furniture was different. For one she her dresser and television were missing, replaced by a small table and cushions. Her wall wasn't covered by the beautiful paintings she'd gotten for her birthday last year, and instead was covered by photographs. She stepped closer to the photographs of her and two people that looked similar to her parents but with some variations. They looked like pictures of her over the years. Seemed like vacations, birthdays, outings, off guard photos of her or her mom, dance recitals, and martial arts classes? But then she noticed a person was missing in these pictures.

She frowned, "Why aren't there any pictures of Quinn? Why are there so many pictures of my parents together?"

Quinn was Katie's sister who was six years older than herself, and her parents had been divorced since she was about two years old, so Katie didn't understand why there were so many family pictures of them all together. She grabbed snatched her phone off the bed and went straight to her gallery.

"_I should have pictures of Quinn in here_," she frowned as she scrolled through the photos.

Her sister and her were very close, so she didn't understand why she was missing in any pictures on the wall. There were nothing of Quinn just pictures of landscapes, flowers, and some other overly girly shit. Katie felt like she should have been panicking, but really she was just confused.

She turned to her closet and sorted through the hanging clothes. Everything looked like stuff she'd bought not too long ago. A school uniform caught her eye. She picked it up and held it at arm's length. It had a long sleeved gray blazer with red lining, a red bow tie with a gold clip in the middle, and a gray skirt.

Eyebrows furrowed together, "This looks creepily familiar...it sort of looks like Orihime's uniform in..._Bleach_," something finally clicked, "Holy shit!"

She whipped her head around looking for her purse. She remembered she'd left it in her kitchen. She ran out of her room down the hall to the kitchen. Her purse was still on the counter exactly where she left it. She rummaged around until she felt her wallet. She snatched it out and stared at the student id within. It had her smiling face next to the words Karakura High, but the name was different.

She was in the _Bleach _Universe, but she wasn't Katie Nightwood. She was now Shigeru Kuroi and she was sixteen _again_.

A few hours had passed as Katie—no―Shigeru started to explore her apartment for anything to explain her life in this universe after a much needed shower of course.

Shigeru now sat in the middle of her living room, hair pulled into a high ponytail dressed in some black leggings and a gray muscle shirt. She was surrounded by paperwork, awards, photo albums, and certificates. After some digging she had an idea of what her life was like the _Bleach-verse, _as she now calls it. For one, her sister didn't exist in this world, and two, her parents died a year ago. She was apparently a black belt in several martial arts, and currently in MMA fighting classes (probably to vent her emotions from her parent's death). She was also a dancer focusing mainly on hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary, something she never even dreamed of doing in her original universe.

She was financially supported by one of her aunts, who Shigeru didn't want to bother too much, so one day she suddenly decided to move to the next town over with her aunt's permission of course explaining why she was in Karakura Town. Only in anime, right? She couldn't quite remember what led to the sudden decision to up and leave her aunt's place, but she got the feeling that whatever the reason it wasn't good.

If she concentrated hard enough she could get flashes of memories and feelings from this universe. For some reason unlike most isekai manga that she read, Shigeru's memories from her original universe were dominant, and she could only gauge what this younger version of herself felt or remembered but nothing was concrete. But she could tell that her aunt was an extremely nice woman who cared for her deeply, and based on her call log she checked on her often.

"All of this is so unreal...but it _is _happening...just wow," she muttered as she flipped through transfer papers for Karakura High.

She was supposed to be starting tomorrow, and she was _not_ thrilled about being a high schooler again. She'd done her time in that particular prison system and was _supposed_ to be a free woman, but from the look of her transcript and her knowledge from prior experiences she knew she'd be fine. She picked up one of the photo albums and flipping through the pages. She ran her hand across the picture of her parent's wedding.

"_This is so surreal. Ma and Daddy are alive and healthy back at home...I can't even imagine them being gone this early in my life_," she thought as she smirked at a picture and her and her father with cake frosting all over their faces as they cheesed into the camera.

Her stomach growled and she hopped up, "Well time for food!"

She skipped over to her fridge. Her smile faltered as she looked in the almost empty fridge. She guessed she didn't go grocery shopping that week. Shigeru grabbed her purse, wallet, and keys.

"Time to explore Karakura Town," she mused happily.

Shigeru managed to navigate the town through muscle memory and gauging through her memories. She found the grocery store easily. She checked her banking account quickly as she grabbed a cart. She made more than enough to do shopping for a month or two, but since she'd have to walk all the food back by herself she opted to get enough for a couple weeks.

She looked at the label of some snacks and she mused, "Well I did just get to this town a couple weeks ago, so I guess it makes sense not to have food in the fridge. Most have been ordering out."

She tossed some boxes of cookies and bags of chips into the cart as she headed for the fruits and vegetables. She grabbed a couple of things there before heading for meat. After about forty to forty-five more mins, Shigeru was satisfied with the amount of food and snacks she'd gotten. She headed toward the check out only to bump into a small girl with light blonde hair, a red strawberry clip in her hair, and a pink dress. Shigeru managed to grab her before she fell.

She grinned, "I'm sorry about that! Are you okay?"

The girl beamed back at her, "I'm fine! I was in a rush and wasn't paying attention. Thank you for helping me."

Shigeru blinked as she realized who the young girl was. It was Yuzu Kurosaki. She began to scream internally.

"_Whoa, I didn't think I'd run into any of the characters yet! I must live in the same neighborhood as Ichigo's family. That's both awesome and terrifying_," Shigeru gave Yuzu a toothy grin.

"Oh, don't mention it. I practically ran you over just now. We both should be careful," she laughed as they both walked to the register.

Yuzu had less than her, so she left the young girl in front of her in line. She was just as bubbly in person as in the show. Shigeru thought that the girl was just too adorable.

"_Just how did this angel get stuck with grumpy Ichigo and Karin_," she giggled.

They chatted a bit as they stood in line about how Shigeru was new to town and was looking forward to living in Karakura. Yuzu tried to extend an offer to meet her family over dinner, but was declined. Shigeru wasn't up to meeting Ichigo until she at least knew where in the story she was currently in. Plus, she'll probably run into the orange hellraiser at school tomorrow. She just told Yuzu "maybe next time" much the girl displeasement. Yuzu pouted but agreed nonetheless. The two part ways going in opposite directions at the entrance.

Yuzu waved, "It was great meeting you, Shigeru! Remember you just _have _to have dinner with my family next time."

"You got it, little one," Shigeru grinned as she waved her good-bye.

Just steps away from her apartment building Shigeru felt a strange presence. It was like a light pressure waying down on her. Her eyes widened as she felt a sense of despair and sadness. A soul piercing howl echoed throughout the town.

"A Hollow," she gasped.

She gripped her bags and ran up to her apartment. She dropped her bags on her counter and ran to her room. She rummaged through her nightstand and found what she was looking for, a red glove with a skull in blue flames. She slipped it on her hand before slamming it against her chest. Shigeru's _physical_ body fell forward onto her bed, but her _spiritual_ body stayed upright.

Now dressed in a black, sleeveless shihakusho with a purple obi tied around her waist. Her hair once again down, flowing to her lower back. Her hands and arms covered by fingerless gloves that extended to her elbows. A wakizashi place on either of her hips. Her dual bladed zanpakuto! Both with contrasting hilt wrappings, one black and the other white. Both with a gold cloud shaped guard and purple sheaths.

The howling grew louder.

"That thing is close by," she huffed as she ran to jump out her window flying in the direction of the constant howling.

She remembered! She remembered the reason she was so adamant about getting away from her aunt. It was to protect her! She went through the same damn thing Ichigo went through in the pilot! Shigeru had unusually high spiritual pressure, and because of it she and her aunt were attacked by some Hollow's on their way home from dinner one night. The shinigami of the area was mortally wounded defending them, but offered Shigeru the opportunity to finish the job for him. Not only granting her his shinigami abilities, but the power she needed to protect herself and her aunt. After Shigeru finished off the rest of the hollows, the shinigami handed her the glove and wished her the best before dying. The smile on his dying face was so serene as he vanished from existence. She never even got his name…

Shigeru was just like Ichigo: a _substitute_ shinigami!

She drew her swords from their sheaths as the Hollow became visible in the middle of the park near the apartment complex. The sword with the white hilt was completely black, so black that light seemed to get absorbed by it, with a white dragon carved into the blade itself. The sword with the black hilt was completely white, as white as fresh, undisturbed snow, with a black tiger carved into the blade. She positioned her body stealthily above the beast, lowering her spiritual pressure to an undetectable state, ready to strike the mask of the giant lizard-like monster. She quickly nose-drived, swiftly imbedding her blades into it's skull. It froze before disintegrating.

"Is...is it gone now," a small quiet voice called from behind Shigeru.

She whipped around to see a small boy no older than ten. He had wavy, short black hair, a red shirt, and torn blue jeans. His soul chain had quite a few links, meaning the boy must have recently passed. He looked a little shaken up as tears gathered in his eyes.

Shigeru sighed before giving the boy a warm, kind smile, "Yeah, I took care of 'em. He won't be back. Ever."

The boy wiped his eyes and ran into Shigeru, wrapping his small arms around her waist trying to hold back his sobs, "Thank you! I was so scared!"

She patted the boy on his head and back gently. She dropped to a knee, placed her sword on the ground, to be eye level with the boy, "What's your name, lil' buddy?"

"Sota," he sniffed.

"Okay, Sota. You can't stay here. If you do then more monsters like the one before will come after you," Shigeru calmly said as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

He frowned as tears started to gather in his eyes again, "But where should I go? I don't know where Mommy and Daddy went. They don't live in our apartment anymore."

She wiped the tears from his eyes, "I can send you to a place like heaven. It's called the Soul Society. There you'll be happy and safe from the monsters."

"Really?"

She smiled and nodded, "Yep, and one day you'll see your mommy and daddy again, but right now you'll have to go alone. Don't worry you'll make plenty of friends before you know it!"

Sota sniffed and nodded his head, "Okay. I'll go there."

"You're a brave little boy, Sota," Shigeru smiled placing a kiss on his forehead.

She grabbed her white blade gently stamping the hilt to his forehead performing konsho. She stood up as Sota faded away turning into a butterfly. She watched on sadly as it fluttered into the sky.

"_Poor kid_," she frowned.

She turned to walk away, but froze when she heard a familiar voice in the distance. Her eyes widened as she jumped high into the thick branches of one of the trees. She peeked down from her hiding space to see an orange haired teen in a black shihakusho like herself, and a petite black haired girl.

She frowned, "_Took those two long enough_."

"What the hell, Rukia? Are you sure that damned thing isn't broken," Ichigo yelled at the girl who pressed the buttons on her phone.

Rukia snapped the phone shut, "Oh, shut up! It seems like someone handled the hollow before we could."

"What?! So there's like another shinigami around her or something," Ichigo asked as he placed his hands over his chest.

Shigeru smirked, "_Something like that…_"

Rukia placed her chin in her hand deep in thought. The girl's phone began to beep again.

She turned to the teen, "We'll figure that out later! Another hollow has appeared, so let's take care of it."

She took off running in the direction of the newly appeared hollow. Ichigo stayed back for a second. He looked around and then up to the trees. Shigeru backed up further into the shadows when it looked like they locked eyes.

"_Fuck!_"

"Ichigo! Get a move on! This hollow isn't going to kill itself," Rukia hollered from a distance.

He sighed before running in her direction, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Shigeru placed a hand to her chest and let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding, "That was a close one…"

_The next day_

Shigeru pulled at the uniform skirt for the fifth time that morning. Her shapely legs made the skirt shorter than it really was, and it annoyed her greatly. She was a firm believer that "thick thighs save lives", but this was slightly uncomfortable.

"Luckily, I always wear shorts under skirts and dresses," she mused.

After dealing with the hollow last night, she went home to put away her groceries. She finished unpacking officially, and cleaned up her mess from her little investigation. She knew Ichigo and Rukia would be able to handle any hollow that appeared for the rest of the night, so she decided to keep a low profile. As she prepared dinner she thought about the order of events for this universe seeing as Ichigo already took Rukia's abilities. She could be _anywhere _in the beginning of the series before Ichigo and Uryuu had that hollow hunting contest... she didn't have a choice but to wait until the next day to pinpoint the exact moment in the timeline she was in.

She stood outside the gateway for the school, and she had butterflies in her stomach for some reason. Maybe it's because she's never been a new student before (she went to a K-12 Charter School, so she basically grew up with the same people from kindergarten up until 12th grade). Students flooded into the building.

Shigeru took a deep breath, "_Here we go! The start of an awesome emotional roller coaster!_"

She headed to the office to grab her schedule. She blinked at the classroom assignment: 1-3.

"_Well, well, well, the universe is obviously pushing me to interact with the main gang_," she cackled inside.

Ms. Misato Ochi patted Shigeru on the shoulder grabbing her attention, "Are you the new student for Class 1-3?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Shigeru Kuroi," she smiles before bowing her head slightly.

Ochi-sensei smirked as she placed her clipboard on her shoulder, "Shigeru, huh? I thought I was getting a boy."

"Yes, yes, I get that a lot! My father was bent on having a boy, but he got me. Mom, let him name me," she chuckled.

"I see, I see! Well come with me. I'm your new homeroom teacher. I'm Ochi-sensei," Ochi-sensei beamed.

She followed the woman to the classroom. Shigeru was not thrilled about the stairs. They were her old nemesis. Maybe it's because her old school had the most evil stairs, even her department building at her college tried to kill her multiple times. Once they were at the entrance, Ochi-sensei told her to wait in the hall until she called for her.

She giggled as she heard the overly excited voice of Keigo declaring he hoped the new transfer was a hot girl.

"Come on in," Ochi-sensei's muffled voice called.

Shigeru slid open the door and stepped into the classroom with all the grace she could muster. She faced the stunned class and gave them a toothy grin.

"Hi, I'm Shigeru Kuroi. I'm a black belt in multiple forms of martial arts, and a trained dancer. I look forward to the rest of the year with everyone," her grin widened as she flicked her hair over her shoulder and took in the wowed looks from the class.

She locked eyes with a stunned Ichigo for a few seconds before looking around the class. Looking at a starstruck Keigo, smirking Mizuiro, a grinning Tatsuki, a happy Orihime, an unexpressive Chad, an uninterested Uryuu, but no Rukia yet...

Ochi-sensei smiled and turned to the class, "Alright settle down everyone. Now I want you guys to help Shigeru to get settled in. You can sit in the empty seat next to Tatsuki! Tatsuki, raise your hand!"

"I'm right here," the black haired girl grinned kindly at Shigeru.

She made her way toward the seat and nodded at Tatsuki. Shigeru wouldn't mind if they became friends. She always felt like Tatsuki deserved a lot more spotlight than she was given. Tatsuki was an awesome character that kept her friends in line. She was also a powerful fighter by human standards.

"So, you're a black belt, huh," Tatsuki asked happily.

Shigeru grinned, "Sure am! How about you, Tatsuki?"

"You betcha, I've been in karate since I was a kid," she pointed at Ichigo, "I was in the same classes as the orange hair menace over there."

"Hey! I heard that Tatsuki," Ichigo yelled as he slammed his hand on his desk, "I'm not a menace!"

Shigeru chuckled at his reaction, "_Aw, he's almost cute… I can't wait to fuck with him. It's going to be a riot_."

She looked over to him as he was still brooding. He locked eyes with her and blushed slightly before facing the window next to him.

"_This'll be fun_," she sighed facing the front board.

Third period rolled around. A free period. Something Shigeru wasn't used to. She was used to lunch being the only real free period in the school day. Many of her classmates surrounded her, asking her questions about herself. She answered them as kindly as she could, finding all the attention to be fun. Everyone in the class was pretty nice and chill. Keigo bounced, literally _bounced_, over to her. She blinked as he grabbed her hands.

"Shigeru, my love, your beauty knows no bounds! Please be my girlfri-," he was cut off by Tatsuki and Ichigo kicking him straight out the back door.

"Get lost creep," they shouted in unison.

Shigeru couldn't hold back her laughter. It was basically music to Keigo's ears as he laid twitching on the ground.

Ichigo faced her as he placed a hand on the back of his neck, "Sorry about that idiot. He's a complete pervert," he shoved his hand toward her, "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

She took his hand giving it a firm shake, "I've heard! You're pretty popular, Ichigo."

"Ha, I wouldn't know about that," he scratched his cheek.

She pretended to have a shocked expression for a sec, "Do you by chance have a little sister named Yuzu?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that," he practically got in her personal space.

She chuckled, "I met her while grocery shopping. I almost ran her over with my cart. She invited me over for dinner since I'm new to town and live alone."

Ichigo ran an exasperated hand down his face, "I've told her to stop doing that!"

"I thought it was sweet. I didn't mind. I gave her a rain check though, so who knows you might have me over sooner or later," she smirked.

He laughed nervously, but Keigo tackled him in a blind fury as he yelled, "No fair, Ichigo! How is it you get all the cute girls!"

"Get off me you idiot," Ichigo yelled as he tried to swing the girl-crazed maniac off of him.

Tatsuki shook her head as Shigeru continued to laugh.

"_Please_, don't encourage him, Shigeru," the black haired teen sighed.

Chad calmly walked over, plucking Keigo off of Ichigo's back. In his deep voice he calmly declared, "Enough, Keigo. You're bothering the girls."

He walked back to the windows with Keigo at arms length where Mizuiro just frowned at his antics.

"Dude, she's so not interested," Mizuiro sighed as he texted on his phone.

That's when Rukia popped up in the class.

"Good morning everyone," she beamed in an over cheery voice.

Rukia glanced over to Shigeru and tilted her head, "Hello there! Who might you be?"

"I'm Shigeru Kuroi. I just transferred here today. Nice to meet you," she reached her hand out for a handshake.

The shorter girl took her hand with a firm grip, "Rukia Kuchiki. Can I borrow Ichigo for a sec?"

"Oh, he's all yours," Shigeru grinned with a playful gleam in her eyes, "_so this is when Kon appears, huh_."

Ichigo scowled at the short girl, "What is it? Why can't we just talk her-"

Rukia falcon punched him in the stomach. He collapsed on the ground.

"Oh my, Ichigo! Are you alright? I'll help you to the nurse," she yelled in mock concern as she dragged out the classroom.

"Is this class always this exciting," Shigeru laughed.

Orihime smiled, "Yes it is!"

The next teacher came in requesting everyone to take their seats. She quickly glanced out the window to see Ichigo and Rukia running off to fight some hollows.

She hummed to herself, a small grin on her face, "_Next period will be entertaining._"

As the bell rang everyone started to scatter for lunch.

"Yay! It's lunch time," Orihime yelled happily.

Tatsuki was unamused, "Not this again! It's only lunch, Orihime."

"What do you mean, Tatsuki?! All normal high school girls come to school for lunch," Orihime said as she did some weird dance.

Shigeru just couldn't hold back her laughter today, "_These kids have way too much energy._"

Orihime invited her to eat lunch with the rest of the girls. She accepted, but as Chizuru and Tatsuki started to argue over Chizuru's unhealthy obsession with Orihime, she pulled out her lunch from her bag. Just then everyone started to cause a commotion.

Ichigo, or rather, Kon jumped through the window.

"Is this class 1-3," he asked.

Everyone murmured in a panic, questioning how Ichigo managed to jump up to the third floor. Kon looked around the classroom, his eyes landed on Orihime, Tatsuki, and herself. She already knew that he zeroed in on Orihime's humungous boobs. He jumped over to the desk in front of Orihime and he grabbed her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, pretty lady. Would you mind telling me your name," he asked as he kissed her on the back of her hand.

Chizuru and Tatsuki lost their shit, but while Chizuru was being restrained Tatsuki had free reign.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Ichigo," she yelled putting him in a headlock.

He leaned his head all the way back glazing at the confused girl, "Hm, you're kinda cute too now that I look at you."

He leaned up to kiss her on the cheek.

3

2

1

Tatsuki lost her shit!

Shigeru couldn't stop laughing as desks went flying around the room. She had to hug her sides because they were starting to ache. A desk came flying her way, but she kicked it out the way. Tatsuki was a demon on a rampage.

"DIE," she threw yet another desk at Kon.

Kon dodged it and sighed, "All I did was kiss you on the cheek. It's not like you're in grade-school anymore. Chill out!"

"I'll kill you, Ichigo," she bellowed.

Kon dodged yet another desk before noticing Shigeru who was the only one laughing. He bounced over to her, and pulled her close by wrapping his arm around her waist. He cupped her chin and titled her face toward his.

His smirk grew as he looked over her face and ogled her body, "Hey, you're a beauty too. Will you try to hit me like the other one?"

Flustered at how close he was, "What are you-"

She was cut off as Kon quickly placed his― wait Ichigo's―lips against her own. Everyone froze. Tatsuki dropped the desk she was preparing to launch, Orihime squealed covering her blushing face, Chizuru covered Orihime's eyes, Keigo passed out, Uryuu turned away modestly, Chad's eyes widened, and Mizuiro stopped his insistent texting.

Shigure's eyes widened and flushed spread across her face, "_What? Why?! Ichigo, no, Kon! Kissing_?!"

"Stop right there," Rukia called out.

Ichigo jumped through the window and his eyes almost bulged out of his face, "What the _hell_ are you doing?!"

Kon finally released Shigure and jumped out of Ichigo's reach and they started their little scuffle. Shigure's brain was currently rebooting.

5%

18%

64%

100%

Something in her mind snapped.

"I'll _destroy_ you, Kon! You little perv," she hissed as a fiery aura covered her like it had Tatsuki moments earlier.

While Kon was busy kicking Ichigo across the room, she in turn kicked the mod-soul clear out of the open window. He landed on his feet unfortunately, and winked up at Shigure before dashing off. She grabbed her glove from her pocket as a tick mark appeared on her head.

Rukia gasped as she looked at the glove, "That's…!"

"Chad, carry me to the infirmary," she slammed her gloved hand against her chest.

An angry, shihakusho wearing Shigeru emerged from her body as the tall Mexican teen caught her falling form in a panic. She grabbed a stunned Ichigo by the back of his own shihakusho, "Let's go get your damn body back from that little pervert!"

Shigeru dragged him with her as she jumped from the window. She turned and yelled, "Move your ass, Rukia!"

As she flew in the air trying to pinpoint the idiot mod-soul, Ichigo struggled against the girls strong hold. He mentally questioned why the hell she was so strong.

"Whoa, whoa, wait! Slow down a minute! Shigeru, are you a shinigami," he asked frantically.

She frowned, "No, I'm like you Ichigo."

"Like me?"

"A spiritually sensitive human that gained a shinigami's power. A substitute shinigami," she shot him a toothy grin.

His eyes widened and he stuttered, "But how?!"

"Same as you, but now isn't the time! We need to find that soul candy that's running rampant in your body. I promise I'll explain as much as I can about myself later," she smirked as she came to a stop leaving them suspended in air, "Deal?"

He took a moment to think before sighing, "Okay, deal!"

"Hey, you two! Get down here," Rukia yelled from the ground.

After trying and failing to find Kon, the group settled in an abandoned warehouse. Ichigo was trying to catch his breath, as Shigeru squatted down to rest. Rukia was thinking about what the soul candy pill really was.

"We need to find me...I mean him… I mean that guy! What even is he?! He's ruining my image and he k-k-ki-," Ichigo was freaking out.

Rukia sighed bluntly, "Kissed your classmates."

"Don't say it! It's embarrassing," Ichigo complained.

Shigeru huffed as she crossed her arms, "Hey! I'm the victim here!"

"Honestly, I don't see the big deal. It's just a mere greeting," Rukia shrugged her shoulders.

Ichigo squatted down next to Shigeru, "How am I supposed to show my face at school tomorrow?!"

"Oh, man up! I'm sure I'm going to get the worse of it," Shigeru sighed before taking a breath and in a high pitch voice said, "Oh my, Shigeru! Are you and Ichigo dating? Is he a good kisser? Oh my god! You two will be _so_ perfect together!"

Ichigo flushed and stuttered, "I...I'm… it was! He did-"

"Shhhh," she placed a finger to his lips, "You aren't my type, and I've been kissed plenty times before, so chill."

He finally managed to calm down, nodding hesitantly. He gulped before facing Rukia suddenly serious.

"What exactly was that thing, Rukia?"

Rukia crossed her arms over her chest, "My guess is that it was a Mod-Soul"

"Or commonly referred to as Kaizo Konpaku," Shigeru supplied grinning.

The smaller girl blinked down at the brown skinned teen and slowly agreed, "How do you know these things, Shigeru?"

Shigeru stood to her full height while stretching her neck. After hearing a satisfying pop and smiled at Rukia, "That can wait until after we stop the little menace."

"But―"

"Drop it, Rukia. Aren't we running out of time?"

Rukia went into the details of "Project Spearhead". She explained the purpose of the Mod-Soul's and their destruction. Noting the one that was currently running rampant in Ichigo's body must have gotten mixed up with some other products which was how it survived.

"So you guys created him, but the Soul Society will kill him? For convenience," Ichigo asked in disbelief.

Rukia coldly replied, "That's how it must be."

"Are you really satisfied with that though? He's just doing what you people made him for," Shigeru frowned crossing her arms around her chest.

The black haired shinigami turned away from the two, " That...is irrelevant. They must be destroyed. That is the rule of the Soul Society."

"I get that but-"

"Remember, these rules are to protect human souls like the both of you," she faced the two eyes gleaming with cold determination.

Shigeru bit down on the inside of her cheek, "_But...the rules of Soul Society do just as much harm than good_."

She and Ichigo shared a look before facing Rukia again.

She was already moving out of the warehouse, "Come on! You want your body back, right?"

As they ran through the city, Shigeru was wondering if she should pretend to sense Kon's presence and point them in the direction of Yuzu and Karin's school. She still wasn't sure about how much she could do in the _Bleach-verse_ without completely altering the timeline. From what she could tell so far this universe wasn't regretting her existence, in fact, it seemed to be making sure that she was actively involved with the plot. Shigeru wasn't sure if it was going by the manga, anime, or a combination of both. That won't be answered until after the group rescues Rukia from her execution.

"_That's if I'm even still involved by then_," she frowned.

A part of her hoped it was heavily following the manga, because she skipped over every single filler arc, except for the Zanpakuto arc, and even then she didn't really watch that completely.

Rukia's phone began beeping, "A hollow is in that direction."

Ichigo flinched as he realized what was in that direction. He sped off with Shigeru close by his side.

"Hey! Wait for me," Rukia complained.

The two teens sped over to the girl's school. A huge centipede like hollow came into view. It was trying to attack Kon on the school roof. Shigeru could see the blood on the shoulder of Ichigo's body. Ichigo jumped ahead launching up toward the rooftop. He sliced the tentacle ready to impale his body.

"You...you saved me," Kon whispered.

Ichigo grabbed Kon by the front of his shirt and shouted, "You're injured! Just whose body do you think this is?!"

Shigeru stabbed the hollow with her black blade, "If you're going to get hurt by trash then don't jump in to try to stop it, idiot!"

"Ow! That hurts," the hollow bellowed.

Kon stared at her, "Beauty, you came to help me too?"

She glared at the Mod-Soul and huffed, "Yes, but I'm still a little annoyed."

"Haha, sorry 'bout that…"

"You know you aren't!"

"You're right," he smiled.

She grabbed him by the collar, "You have no shame!"

"But seriously if I didn't fight those kids...they would have been killed," Kon said grimly as he gently pried her fingers from his collar.

The hollow that had grown tired of being ignored launched an attack at the three, "That's it! I'll eat you all!"

Ichigo, Kon, and Shigeru attacked it's mask in unison.

"Shut up!"

Between the mask crushing kicking force of the Mod-Soul and the slashes from the two zanpakuto, it didn't stand a chance.

As the monster flew back, Kon rushed forward kicking it up into the air, but all the momentum caused the menace to fall over the balcony. Ichigo and Shigeru rushed forward pulling him back to the roof.

"You idiot," Ichigo yelled.

Shigeru grunted, "Ichigo, why're you so heavy?!"

Ichigo went on to lecture the Mod, while Kon went on about how he didn't wish to kill, his past, and his idealisms.

Shigeru was examining her nails flicking the dirt from underneath them.

"My, my…," a low voice announced.

Shigeru almost jumped out of her skin as none other than Kisuke Urahara slowly walked over to them.

He stared down the Mod-Soul, "We finally find you, and you're all roughed up…"

He raised his cane, slamming it through Ichigo's forehead. A little pill clattered to the ground along with Ichigo's soulless body. Shigeru looked back to see Tessai, Ginta, and Ururu with all their weapons in toe. Kisuke snatched the green pill off of the ground.

"Well, mission accomplished. Let's go home," he beamed.

Ichigo ran toward the shopkeeper before he could step away, "Wait!"

Kisuke glanced down at the teen, "Mmm?"

"What are you going to do with him," Ichigo asked standing in front of the green clad man.

Kisuke looked Ichigo over with boredom before he glanced over to Shigeru who froze. His stare calculating yet curious.

He glanced back at the orange haired teen again, "What do you mean? We're going to dispose of him."

"You can see me? Who are you," Ichigo eyes widened.

Shigeru rolled her eyes, "He can obviously see both, idiot. Do you see anyone else up here?"

Kisuke grabbed the top of his hat a smirk ghosting his lips at Shigeru's response, "Hmm how should I answer that?"

Rukia snatched Kon out of Kisuke's hand, "Hand it over you greedy salesman!"

"Ms. Kuchiki! Give that back," he whined.

Rukia gently tossed the Mod-Soul up and down, "Oh relax, Urahara! Plus, I wasn't aware that your store took back items without compensating the customer."

The man frowned, "Then I'll give you a refund…"

Shigeru giggled. She couldn't tell if the man was just lazy or acting nonchalant most of the time. He was always just so hard to describe, but she knew he could be terrifying. He's not a former Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads for no reason.

"No, I'm satisfied with my product," Rukia smiled and before Kisuke could complain she cut him off, "Plus, we both know your group is working illegally. Recovering him is out of your jurisdiction."

Kisuke grimly said, "I hope you know what you're doing, Ms. Kuchiki. If trouble comes, we'll play dumb."

"I'm used to trouble lately," Rukia sighed.

Shigeru leaned on Ichigo's shoulder and sighed, "Now that this is done can we go. I'm pretty sure my body is still in the school infirmary. What if they figure out that it's kinda...dead?"

"Oh crap! That's right we need to get there before they lock up," Ichigo shouted.

Rukia handed Kon over to Ichigo.

"Thanks for not throwing him away," he said as he stared at the little green candy.

Shigeru sighed, turning from the group, "I'm going to get a head start before I'm sent to a morgue or something!"

She jumped off the roof running through the air toward the school. She could sense that someone's reiatsu was following her. Once she landed on the roof of Karakura High School she sighed deeply. There were only a few students left for club activities and so on. She made her way toward the door but paused before forcing it open.

"Are you going to reveal yourself or just watch from afar like a creep," she called over her shoulder.

A voice chuckled far too close to her ear, "So you can sense me. Interesting!"

"What can I help you with Mr. Urahara," she looked over her shoulder into the man's gray eyes.

The amused smile vanishing from his face, "Answer a question or two."

"Can I at least get my body first," she asked nervously as she resisted the urge to shiver from the man's cold gaze.

His smile returned as he pulled out his white fan, "Why of course!"

Shigeru tried her best to not sweatdrop, but failed, "_This man is bipolar…_"

Shigeru managed to find the infirmary after finding a school map. She really didn't know how to navigate through the building yet. What, she_ just _transferred! Once in the small infirmary she slipped back into her body, as Kisuke pulled a stool up to her bed side. Opening her eyes, she sat up groaning as she kicked the sheet away from her form. She squinted as she looked for her glasses. Kisuke placed them on her face.

"So…," she said trying to break the ice.

"So?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Who are you?"

"Shigeru Kuroi"

"Where are you from?"

"Originally, the next town over, but I moved here a couple weeks ago."

"How long have you been seeing spirits?"

"Mmmm, I'd say since I was a little kid. Like kindergarten?"

"How long have you been a substitute shinigami, and where's the one that gave you their abilities?"

"I'd say roughly a month. I never got the guys name before he died. He just wished me the best and gave me this glove," she said gloomily as she lifted her gloved hand.

Kisuke rubbed his stubble as he took the information in. He gave the girl a once over. He could tell that she had just as much spiritual energy as the orange haired teen from earlier, maybe even a little more in fact, but has taught herself how to hide it. She could also sense the spiritual pressure of others. Despite having her abilities for roughly the same amount of time as Ichigo, her skills were advancing at a quicker rate. He could tell that despite her honesty it seemed like she was still hiding something. However, from what he could tell she was an unexpected ally. She stared back at him waiting for another question.

"_She shows great potential_," he mused standing up.

She got to her feet as well, "That's it?"

"Hmm, for now, Little Miss Shigeru," he grinned at the girl.

She groaned, "Please don't call me that."

"Why not? I think it sounds cute," he teased patting the girl on her head.

She blushed slightly before swatting his hand away, "Whatever, I've got places to be. See you around, Mr. Hat-and-Clogs."

She grabbed her blazer and bag before running out of the room. Kisuke walked over to the window watching as the girl ran to the entrance where Rukia and Ichigo were waiting. His eyes shimmered with amusement.

"Be seeing you," he smirked.

As the trio walked toward Ichigo's house, the boy tossed and kicked the stuffed lion Kon was now inhabiting as they walked, but the boy also kept pestering the brown haired girl.

"Now spill! How did you become a substitute shinigami?!"

Shigeru rubbed her throbbing temple, "I've been seeing spirits since I was a kid. My aunt and I were attacked by a group of hollows. The shinigami assigned for the region got mortally wounded, and offered me his abilities. One soul stab later, boom, substitute shinigami. That about sums it up."

"How'd you know about what Kon really was," Rukia interjected.

Shigeru paused, "That...I can't explain. The words just appeared in my head."

"What like a psychic," Ichigo frowned.

Shigeru laughed, "Sure let's go with that! How much longer to your house? I'm starving!"

"Just around the corner," Ichigo said as he kicked Kon to the corner.

Shigeru tried not to laugh at the plushie's suffering, but he had it coming. Rukia stared at Shigeru from the corner of her eye. She could tell she knew way more than she was letting on, but seeing as she was a pretty nice person, and she did help get Ichigo's body back, she couldn't be that bad. Rukia decided she was going to talk to Urahara about a few things after all.

"I just remembered that there's something I need to do. I'll be back later," Rukia announced before running off.

Ichigo and Shigeru blinked at the trail of dust the smaller girl left.

Just outside the front door to Ichigo's house, he stopped her, "I just want to warn you...my family can be a little much."

"I'm sure they aren't that bad," she smiled, "_My original family were so comical we deserved a damn reality show!_"

Ichigo sighed as he unlocked the door. His dad suddenly flew through the door a kick aimed at the boy's face. Ichigo dodged before punching his dad in the nose pinning the man to the floor with his fist.

"What the hell, old man," he shouted.

Isshin mumbled through his son's fist, "Ichigo, my son! How was your day?"

"Why can't you ask that _without_ trying to kick in my face in," the boy yelled as he removed his fist from his father's now caved in face.

Shigeru cackled, "I stand corrected! Your family is hilarious!"

At the sound of her voice, Isshin popped back to his feet. He pushed Ichigo face first into a wall before gently grabbing Shigeru's hands.

"Why didn't tell us you were bringing over such a beautiful girl," Isshin shouted at the boy then faced her, "I think you're too good for my useless son, but I'd be honored if you became my new daughter."

Shigeru laughed heartily as Karin appeared out of nowhere kicking her dad into the space next to Ichigo.

"Dad, you can't just say stuff like that," the younger Kurosaki yelled.

Yuzu appeared around the corner, "What's all the ruckus about?"

Shigeru waved to the small girl, "Hi there!"

"Dad, being an idiot again!"

"Please become my daughter-in-law!"

"She's not interested, old man!"

"Shigeru, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Shigeru watched the Kurosaki's with amused awe. They were so energetic and eccentric. She loved it, compared to the empty apartment waiting for her. A warm smile spread across her face as she turned to Yuzu.

"I'd love to!"

**Authors note: This might be the longest chapter I write for the whole series haha. Until some major battles stop to happen. I hope guys enjoyed and look forward to seeing how Shigeru influences the Bleach-verse with her knowledge and overall existence!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: How're you enjoying the story so far? I've decided to follow the manga, so no filler arcs! **

Chapter 2: This is Why I Hate Cemeteries

"Ichigo, wait up," Shigeru yelled as she caught up with the boy.

Ichigo slowed down to a stop waiting for the girl as she bounced over to him.

"Good Morning," she huffed.

He beamed at her, "Hey, Shigeru!"

"_...That's odd of him,_" she thought as they walked.

The two had grown close over the last couple weeks. Shigeru frequently had dinner with the Kurosaki's, which was always great...even if Isshin was insistent on making her his newest daughter. The twin enjoyed her company as well. She'd help Yuzu with the cooking and cleaning, and would help Karin with some of her drills. Ichigo seemed to still be a little awkward around her because of the whole kissing fiasco, but she's ensured him multiple times that it was fine. They'd hunt hollows together during the night with Rukia, who she could tell was getting weaker.

As the two entered the classroom Keigo jumped toward Shigeru for a hug, "Shi~ge~ru!"

Her foot planted in his face on reflex. She blinked as he crumbled to the floor, "Oh, good morning Keigo. I didn't see you there."

"Why're you so cruel," the hyperactive teen groaned.

She shrugged her shoulders before greeting everyone else as she prepared her things for class. After the incident with Kon, as she predicted, the girls in the class had a field day. Both she and Ichigo were bombarded with questions. She ensured them all that she was not interested in Ichigo like that. They were just friends. Shigure even pulled Orihime to the side to personally tell her that she would _never _see the other teen in a romantic light, if anything they were siblings at this point. Orihime was so flustered as she tried and failed to deny her attraction to the other orange haired teen.

Tatsuki took her seat and faced Shigeru, "Have you considered joining the Karate club?"

"Not really because I have a part-time job after school, and I'm taking mixed-martial-arts classes," Shigure shrugged.

Tatsuki sighed, "Bummer! I'd love to spar with you. Those chumps in the club could use the practice."

The brown haired girl considered it. It would be fun to have actual sparring partners to keep her skills from getting rusty. Ichigo would never spar with her because he thought he'd be able to actually harm her, which earned him a bruising punch to the gut. He didn't know that she had unnatural strength and taught herself how to use her reiatsu to amplify it even further.

She smiled, "How about this, whenever you need someone as a stand-in or for demonstrations I'll clear up my schedule. Does that sound good to you?"

"That would be great! I'll tell the instructor. He's been trying to use me to recruit you for weeks now," Tatsuki grinned as she placed her hands behind her head.

Classes were going by surprisingly quick. Shigeru barely took notes in most classes with math being an exception. It wasn't that she was bad at it; she just hated it and got easily frustrated. Everyone was shocked, even the instructor, when she read a passage perfectly for English. It was her native language in her original universe so that made sense. She tapped her pencil gently on her desk. She glanced out the windows, staring at the clear blue skies.

She hummed, "_Not even a cloud in sight…_"

She glanced over to Ichigo who seemed to be doing the same thing. Just gazing out the window, but he seemed more melancholy than usual even though he appeared cheerier than usual to his classmates. She pulled her phone out of her desk and looked at the date.

"_Oh...it's that time,_" she glanced back at the boy sadly.

Michiru ran into the class during break, "Tatsuki, you have art right? Did you do your "Future Self" project?"

"Yeah, why," she shrugged.

"Let me see! I'm not confident in mine," Michiru asked shyly.

Tatsuki pulled out a sketch of her holding a championship belt in a ring surrounded by lights, cameras, and her opponent defeated at her feet.

"Wow...How about you, Orihime," Michiru asked.

Orihime rummaged through her bag, "Wait a minute, I'm actually secretly proud of it!"

She unrolled her drawing revealing her as a robot? Shigeru giggled at the girls imagination.

Orihime went on an excited rant about all of the modifications and destructive power of future robot Orihime would have.

"Do you want detention again," Tatsuki yelled at the excited girl.

Michiru yelled, "Orihime! This wasn't how the assignment was supposed to go!"

The group turned to Shigeru expectedly. She laughed nervously.

"Um, mine isn't any better…"

Shigeru unrolled her drawing and laughed nervously.

Tatsuki's mouth dropped.

Michiru sweatdropped.

Orihime's eyes sparkled.

On the paper was an almost photo accurate drawing of Shigeru sitting on a throne made of skulls. A black bone encrusted crown on her head. She was dressed in a white and gold low cut long sleeve dress with her signature toothy grin across her face.

"Shigeru, this is amazing," Orihime gushed.

Tatsuki ran a hand down her face, "They're both getting detention…"

"I don't think I'm going to show my drawing," Michiru grumbled.

Tatsuki jumped up giving Shigeru a noggy, "What is this supposed to be?!"

"Ow! Ow! You're messing up my hair," Shigeru whined at the girl's assault.

Orihime chimed in, "I think Shigeru wants to rule the world in the future as a beautiful queen!"

"That's right!"

"Idiot! Pick something realistic!"

"But we're all queens, Tatsuki. Owwww! Tatsuki, stop!"

Tatsuki finally removed her fist from a disheveled Shigeru, who reached into her bag to grab her brush. As she worked through the tangles, Ichigo silently walked into the class.

Orihime bounced over to him, "Good morning, Ichigo!"

"Oh, hey! Good Morning, Orihime," he beamed back at the girl.

She paused. Worry taking over her features as she watched Ichigo head over to the guys.

"Wow, he's in a good mood today," Michiru inquired as her gaze followed the normal scowling boy.

Orihime frowned, "He seems tense…"

"What do you mean? That's the first time I've ever seen Ichigo smile like that," Michiru asked.

Shigeru silently continued to brush her hair as she glanced at Ichigo then back to Tatsuki as she stood up from her seat.

"What's today's date," the girl asked.

Michiru looked down to her digital watch, "It's the 16th. Why?"

Tatsuki turned away from the girl, "Orihime, you're amazing. It took me three years to realize "that." If you have any urgent business with Ichigo you'd better settle it today."

"Huh, why," Orihime asked.

Shigeru caught the sadden expression that graced Tatsuki's face. Her eyes held so much pain for her friend.

"Because he won't be coming to school tomorrow," she said in a faraway voice.

Shigeru glanced over to Rukia, who was eavesdropping on the conversation. They made eye contact before Rukia looked back down to the book she was studying from.

Shigeru just continued to brush her long brown hair despite the fact that all of the snags were already gone.

Later that day, Tatsuki asked Shigeru to stop by the dojo to introduce herself to the karate club. She agreed. When the final bell rang she pulled Ichigo to the side.

"I'll be coming over for dinner as soon as I'm done with the karate club. Tell Yuzu to wait for me. I'm helping with dinner," she told him.

Ichigo smiled back at her, "Sure thing!"

Before he could walk away she grabbed his wrist. He turned to face the shorter teen, confused about the serious look in her eyes.

"W-What is it, Shigeru," he asked trying to keep a bright smile on his face.

Shigeru stared into his eyes that didn't reflect the smile on his face, "It wasn't your fault."

He froze.

She released his wrist and continued, "You're far too young to be blaming yourself for something completely out of your control."

She turned away from him, "You have to learn how to move forward, Ichigo."

Shigeru went to go grab her bag before hopping over to the waiting Tatsuki. As they left the room she glanced back at the still frozen Ichigo before facing forward. As the two made their way to the dojo Tatsuki warned her that the guys might not take her seriously.

"Is that so? Well I'll have to make sure they never do that again," she smiled maliciously as she cracked her knuckles.

Tatsuki seemed a little nervous seeing the mad gleam in her eyes, "_I feel sorry for the guys already._"

When they got to the dojo the first thing that Shigeru noticed was how beefy the karate club members were. She assumed the beefier the older they were. One of the boys walked up to the two girls. He was decent looking, tall with slightly tanned skin. His dark shaggy hair was pulled in a low ponytail. His large pecks peeking out of his robes.

"Hey, Tatsuki who's your friend," he asked as he stopped a couple feet away from them.

He looked Shigeru up as the boy basically undressed her with his eyes. She ignored that.

Tatsuki, however, didn't like it one bit and glared at the boy, "Miki, this is Shigeru. She's going to be helping with practices."

Miki and a few of the other guys scoffed and laughed at that. Shigeru smirked crossing her arms over her chest.

"_Oh, I'm going to enjoy destroying them_," her eyes shimmered with mischief.

"How is this _pipsqueak_ here supposed to help _us _with practice," Miki laughed.

"I'm average height for a girl," Shigeru pouted.

Tatsuki snapped, "If I remember correctly I handed your ass to you just yesterday, and I'm smaller than her! Seriously, get over yourself! You're not even that talented!"

"Watch it, Arisawa! We all know you're a freak of nature that's the only reason you can even keep up with us," Miki snapped back.

Before Shigeru could interject the room was silenced by the claps of the instructor. She couldn't remember which subject he taught.

"That's enough Tatsuki and Miki," he frowned standing between the bickering students.

"Sorry, Sir," they both bowed.

He sighed, "Tatsuki go get changed, and Miki head toward the mat. You'll be sparring first."

"With who, sir," the teen furrowed his brows.

The instruction cocked his head in Shigeru's direction, "With her. You wanted to prove yourself right?"

The teen tried to speak but was cut off by the man who turned toward the other members, "That goes for _all_ of you. Each one of you will be sparring against Ms. Kuroi today. I've warned you all about that sexist crap when Tatsuki joined the club, and she's our golden star."

Shigeru raised a brow, "_This guy is cool_. _I like him_."

The instructor turned to her, "Would you mind putting these idiot students of mine in their place, Ms. Kuroi."

The boys in the dojo looked at Shigeru nervously as she returned their looks of anxiousness with a demonic grin.

"It would be my pleasure," her eyes gleamed with animalistic glee.

"_She's a demon!_" they all screamed internally regretting their behavior moments earlier.

_An hour and a half later…_

"I'm finished," Shigeru smiled as she clapped dust off her hands.

Tatsuki whistled as she placed her hands on her hips.

The instructor nodded his head pleased.

The bodies of the Karate Club members were sprawled out across the floor, a couple dangling through the open windows, embedded in the wall, and so forth.

Shigeru ran a hand through her hair, "Well I'd say that this was a successful lesson. So what did we learn today?"

"Sex has nothing to do with talent," the boys groaned in pain.

Shigeru grinned, "Good, good. The lesson was properly received."

She looked at the clock on the wall. If she left right then, she'd make it in time to help Yuzu cook dinner. She stepped on the bodies of the fallen as she went to grab her things.

"I'll see you around, Tatsuki. I gotta run," Shigeru called over her shoulder as she ran off.

As she approached the front gate she heard someone call her name. She turned to see Tatsuki running her way.

"Are you going to Ichigo's," she huffed.

Shigeru nodded, "I'm helping Yuzu with dinner tonight. Why?"

"Has...has Ichigo talked to you about his mom," Tatsuki asked quietly.

Shigeru frowned now fully facing the girl, "No, but the twins have talked to me about her. Tomorrow's the anniversary of her death, right?"

Tatsuki refused to look up from her feet, "I know it's wrong to ask you this because you're new here…"

Shigeru placed a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder. Tatsuki finally looked into Shigeru's brown eyes, "What do you want me to do?"

"Can you keep an eye on him for a couple days," she asked.

Shigeru nodded, "Sure, I can do that."

"Thank you."

"Why me?"

"Huh," Tatsuki blinked.

"Why'd you ask me? Why not Chad or Keigo," Shigeru asked genuinely curious.

A small smile appeared on the girl's face, "You make him smile, I mean, _really_ smile. He seems more comfortable around you than the rest of us lately."

As Shigeru walked to the Kurosaki residence she thought over what Tatsuki told her. She didn't think that Ichigo seemed that much different from when she first arrived. Ichigo was easy-going around her, but they did argue over a lot as well, mainly about Ichigo's hero complex. She would also tell him to actually listen to Rukia. He'd just straight up ignore her and fly head first into fights without even analyzing the situation. Then again they did laugh over things like Rukia's crappy drawings. He'd help her with math homework, and she'd help him with things she didn't get either. She was starting to consider the teen the little brother she never wanted.

She stopped herself from knocking on the front door, "_I'll help Ichigo as much as I can. I'll help everyone here when the time comes."_

Isshin swung the door open and suddenly pulled the girl into a bear hug.

"Gyah!"

Isshin rubbed his stubble chin against her cheek, "I was getting worried about my eldest daughter! What took you so long to get home?"

"Helping Karate Club," she laughed as his stubble tickled her.

Yuzu ran to the entrance and smiled, "Shigeru! I just finished prepping the ingredients. I'm ready when you are."

"I'll be there in a minute," she laughed, "sorry about this Mr. Kurosaki!"

She thrust her palm against his chin sending the father falling away from her. He grabbed his chin tears streaming down his eyes.

"You got me good, Shigeru dear," he launched a kick toward the teen as she slipped out of her school shoes.

She grabbed his attacking leg, spinning in a circle before tossing him into the living room couch.

Karin punched him in the face, "Settle down!"

Isshin ran to the giant photo of the kids mother and cried, "Masaki! Our daughters are bullying me again!"

Shigeru stared at the photo of Masaki Kurosaki. She was beautiful. Flowing orange curls and a bright smile. By the way the Kurosaki's acted, she must have been a great mother while she was alive. Thinking about mothers started to cause a tightness in her chest. She shook away the feeling.

She beamed at Yuzu, "Let's get started."

Yuzu and Shigeru finished making dinner in no time. Yuzu called for Ichigo to come down to eat, while Karin and Shigeru set the table. Isshin, Karin, and Shigeru took their seats. Yuzu started serving when Ichigo finally dragged himself downstairs.

As they ate the girl told the adults about their day. Shigeru went on about whipping the Karate Club into shape. Isshin mentioned some funny patients that stopped by the clinic. One being a hilarious tale of a man who got his hands super glued to a vase and a hammer. Ichigo stayed relatively quiet the whole time.

Yuzu turned to Shigeru and asked, "Shigeru, what do your parents do?"

Shigeru paused and smiled, "They...they were teachers."

"Were," Karin questioned quietly.

Ichigo turned to face the girl next to him staring at her intently.

"They died in a car accident last year. My aunt took me in, but I didn't want to be a bother," she shrugged with a small smile.

Yuzu started to tear up, "I'm sorry for asking, Shigeru. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

The teen patted the sweet girl on the head and chuckled, "It's fine! I'm not as sad as I used to be. They wouldn't have wanted me to stay sad forever."

Isshin leaned over the table to pat Shigeru on the head, "Well said…"

"Plus, I've got you guys now. Family can come from anywhere," she beamed at the Kurosaki family, "if that's alright?"

Karin smiled, "Of course it is. You've been practically adopted by Dad anyway."

At that Isshin jumped over to Shigeru pulling her into a bear hug, "Precisely, my beautiful eldest daughter!"

"Not again," she groaned.

Once they were finished eating Shigeru took care of cleaning up. When she finished cleaning she announced that she should head out, but Isshin insisted that she stay for their family meeting. They were planning to visit Masaki's grave tomorrow, and Isshin extended an invitation to her.

She was slightly thrown off by this, "Are you sure it's okay for me to go? I mean this seems, like, pretty personal… I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense, it'll be fine," Isshin waved her off, "I'm sure Masaki would be glad to see that her grumpy son has a new kind friend."

"I don't know about this…"

"It's fine."

She turned to see Ichigo smiling. Not that fake smile he's been wearing all day. An actual smile.

Ichigo stood up, "It's alright for you to tag along, Shigeru. Now go grab some clothes from your place and come back. We usually go early."

He left to go to his room.

"But where will I sleep," she blinked.

Yuzu smiled, "Our room has plenty of space!"

Shigeru sighed, "Okay…"

_The next day_

"Too much sun," the brown skinned girl groaned.

Shigeru was not one for extreme heat.

She lifted her black dad cap from over her ponytail to wipe the sweat from her brow. She wore a white, form fitting, sleeveless shirt, purple leggings, and black running shoes. A fanny pack secured around her waist that had her phone and soul candy she got from Kisuke just encase, and it was better than leaving her soulless body lying around every time a hollow appeared.

Yuzu and Karin were leading the group, Isshin in the middle, and she walked alongside Ichigo in the back a few seconds away from making the boy carry her.

"This hill is so tough," Yuzu frowned.

Isshin started cheering for his daughter. Running up the hill on his hands suddenly. All of the man's shenanigans ended with Karin kicking him straight down the hill.

Shigeru was too hot to be amused. She whined, "They have way too much energy...it's too hot for all that!"

"You're more whiny than usual," Ichigo smirked at the girl.

"I don't whine!"

"Doing a hell of a lot of it right now!"

"Carry me and I'll stop."

"Not a chance," he grinned.

She pouted, "You angsty cheeto!"

"Was that joke about my hair," he put the girl into a headlock.

She whined, "Take it how you want to!"

He looked up toward the sky and solemnly muttered, "It is pretty hot today. Even though it's the same 17th...it's so different."

Shigeru was going to say something when she heard Karin, "There's someone up there…"

Ichigo and Shigeru went pale when they saw Rukia waving in their direction.

"Why is she waving at us," Yuzu asked.

The two teens started to panic. Ichigo frantically made up an excuse, "She's a girl I went to middle school with. I'm going to go catch up with her! Let me introduce her to you Shigeru!"

"Wha―"

Ichigo tossed Shigeru over his shoulder, ran to Rukia snatched her up by the arm, and ran off.

"Heh," Karin laughed.

"What do you mean by "heh", Karin," Yuzu turned to her twin.

Karin smiled, "Mean's our Ichigo is growing up!"

_With the Idiot-Shinigami-Trio _

"Why did you follow us here," Ichigo yelled.

Rukia crossed her arms, "You fool. What would you have done if a hollow appeared and I'm not nearby?"

"I keep my glove on me at all time," Shigeru said as she lifted her chin off of Ichigo's shoulder. She'd managed to adjust her body to piggy-backed him.

Rukia paused, "Oh yeah, you do have one of the gloves too."

Ichigo yelled, "All that for hollows. Can't you be more covert about it?"

"Sorry about that," Rukia blinked.

Ichigo blinked, "Are you angry?"

"No. I'm not angry. Killed…," Rukia crossed her arms.

"What?"

"That's what you told me. That your mother was killed," she continued.

Shigeru jumped off of Ichigo's shoulders, "_Oh boy…_"

Ichigo placed his hands in his pockets, "I didn't say that, so drop it."

"Who killed her," the shinigami pressed.

Ichigo frowned, "Just drop it, Rukia."

"You said that you've been seeing spirits for as long as you could remember. If that's so, then answer this question for me," she continued.

Shigeru stepped forward and warningly said, "Rukia…"

"Wasn't the thing that killed your mother... a hollow," she finished.

Ichigo froze.

"Dammit, Rukia," Shigeru shook her head.

Rukia quickly tried to reason, "Just think about it! You've been seeing spirits for as long as you can remember, so if your reiatsu was that high a hollow could have targeted you…"

Ichigo's frown deepened.

"And mistaked your mother for―"

"Shut the hell up," he bellowed.

Rukia flinched back.

"Everything to you is "hollow this", "hollow that", that's not what happened! She wasn't killed by some stupid hollow!," he yelled, taking a step toward the shorter teen.

Shigeru grabbed him by the elbow in case he really lost his temper.

"I was only trying to help," Rukia argued.

Ichigo glared at the shinigami, "You don't even know the pain I've had to deal with every day of my life."

He shook off Shigeru's hand and walked off, "Next time, keep your theories to yourself. I killed her."

He ran off leaving the two girls alone.

Rukia couldn't look Shigeru in the eyes, "I...I was really trying to help."

"It was still insensitive, Rukia. We're human. Sometimes we can't process traumatic emotions," Shigeru sighed walking off in the direction the boy ran off to.

She turned to face the smaller woman, "You're lucky, Rukia. If I were him I would have punched you."

Shigeru left the woman to think about her actions.

She closed her eyes to sense where the teen went. Ichigo was standing stationary, she assumed by his mother's grave. Isshin was further down hill by someone with almost non-existent spiritual pressure. The twins were together, but Karin was heading off toward...a hollow.

"Shit, it's Grand Fisher," she hissed.

She fished the soul candy out of her bag before popping one in her mouth. She emerged from her body. She turned to the gikon in her body.

"Keep my body safe and out of sight," she ordered.

It nodded before jumping into the trees to hide.

Shigeru launched herself in the air flying toward the twins. She heard a scream and picked up the pace. She followed Karin's panicked reiatsu. Her eyes widened as she saw Yuzu suspended in the air by the furry hollow's elongated tongue. Karin was being crushed by his webbed foot. Shigeru could no longer bottle up her rage.

"Get your furry ass away from them," she yelled.

She used her reiatsu to enhance her legs as she dove down. Just before her foot connected with the giant hollow, Ichigo swooped in to slice the tongue strangling the younger twin. Catching her in the air before landing to the ground. Shigeru continued her assault kicking the large body off of Karin. Grand Fisher went flying with it's child-like lure before skidding to a stop.

"Shinigami's," it hissed.

Shigeru lifted the black haired girl, "Karin! Are you okay?!"

Karin had already passed out. She patted the small girl on her head as she pulled her close, lifting her into her arms.

Ichigo glared at the child-like lure still believing that it was an actual spirit of a young girl.

"What's going on here?! You're the one from six years ago by the river! Why're you hanging out with a damn hollow," the boy yelled as he placed Yuzu down against a grave.

The girl, or rather, Grand Fisher replied, "Six years ago...I don't remember that far back."

Shigeru placed Karin by her sister. She pulled her blades from their sheaths.

"Oh, I see...you've seen me before," the hollow mused.

Ichigo yelled, "That's right! Now what is this? Are you this hollow's crony? Or being controlled"

It gazed at Ichigo coldly, "Both are wrong, boy."

"Ichigo, get back," Shigeru shouted as she appeared above the hollow's head.

It dashed off at the last moment narrowly avoiding her blades. She grit her teeth in frustration. She jumped back over to Ichigo's side.

She glanced at the boy, "I'm sorry to break this to you, but that _is _a hollow."

"What? That _can't _be," Ichigo glared back at the creature, "What the hell are you?!"

Grand Fisher chuckled darkly, "You saw me and survived...you're a lucky man."

The lure turned inside out reattaching itself to the main body of the gorilla-like hollow.

"But that luck has run out," it declared, "Now that you've seen me. I'll have to eat you."

Ichigo trembled slightly, "That kid was a part of it…?"

"Grand Fisher," Rukia called as her and Kon appeared.

Ichigo faced the girl as she explained what the hollow was capable of. Shigeru motioned for Kon to take the twins and hide. As the hollow mocked the group, she noticed that Ichigo was losing it. The boy lunged straight for the creature, slashing away. The hollow jumped away from his attack.

Rukia ran forward and yelled, "Ichigo, You're being careless! Calm down!"

Shigeru stayed behind. She knew that no one would end up dying from this fight, but questioned if it was really okay to watch from the sidelines. This was a fight for revenge. It was a matter of pride, but...

Grand Fisher's arm extended as the monster tried to crush Ichigo's skull. The orange haired shinigami managed to block the arm with his sword. He kicked the limb, slicing it away from his body. As Ichigo landed on his feet, the hollow was right above him fur extending in all directions, preparing to smother the boy.

"Ichigo," Rukia screamed before chanting the incantation for a spell.

Ichigo yelled, "Stop, Rukia!"

He sliced the offended fur away from this body, tossing it to the side before he created some distance between Grand and himself.

Rukia and Shigeru ran over to him.

"Stay out of this, both of you. Just go and protect Yuzu and Karin with Kon," Ichigo ordered still in a crouch.

Rukis shook her head in disbelief, "Are you kidding me? That thing has evaded shinigami for decades! You can't―"

"Shut up," he yelled, silencing the woman, "Just let me do this…This is _my_ fight."

Shigeru placed a hand on Rukia's shoulder. She gave the girl a small reassuring smile, "Let him do this, Rukia."

Rukia turned to face Ichigo again before nodding at the taller girl. She ran back to where Kon was with the girl. Shigeru stayed with the teen out for revenge.

"Why aren't you going with her," Ichigo asked, not facing her.

Shigeru smirked, "You'll someone to help carry away your beat up body when this is over."

He nodded before going back to battle.

The two ran around the place trying to kill each other. Grand Fisher continued to use his fur to try to cocoon the boy. Ichigo slashed at the hair currently surrounding his hand, but he was losing speed as the hollow appeared behind him shooting his hair at him at a quicker rate. Shigeru was starting to memorize the hollow's attack patterns. Not quite predictable, but still very little variations in his approach. The two kept circling each other. Ichigo kept running and dodging attacks.

"What's wrong, boy? Running can't stop me! Just swinging that sword can't stop me," Fisher laughed as he sent multiple attacks the boys way.

Ichigo grit his teeth.

"Don't interfere, you said. But at this level you think you can defeat me, boy?," it cackled.

Ichigo ran at the monster head on, "Aaaah!"

"Didn't I say that that was careless," Grand Fisher mocked inches away from the teens face, "Driving at an enemies chest without a plan."

Fisher went to strike the boy's face, but Ichigo blocked it with his sword.

Shigeru's grip on her sword tightened, "_Don't hesitate, idiot._"

Fisher's claws extended, impaling Ichigo in the chest. Ichigo fell to the ground as the hollow retreated his claws.

"Careless, careless, with such carelessness you discarded your companions."

Ichigo struggled to get his footing.

"With such carelessness you dive at an enemies chest."

The grip on his sword tightens as blood streams from the hole in his chest.

"It is because of that carelessness you will be controlled by me, and die landing a single blow with your sword," the hollow teased.

He slashed at the hollow, "Shut up! Even if I'm torn limb from limb, I _will_ defeat you!"

Grand Fisher squinted at the boy, "That's why you'll die."

The lure began to take the appearance of the small girl again, "You're young. Young people are easily angered."

Shigeru frowned, "_Here it comes. How will you handle this, Ichigo_?"

Grand Fisher encased it's head with its giant red hand.

"Through anger your heart will be shaken, with your shaken your blade will dull," the lure began to glow under the monsters hand.

He released the lure . Ichigo's eyes widened with a rage and disbelief. The lure now looked like his mother, Masaki.

"It's over, boy. You're far too young to fight me," Grand Fisher declared gleefully.

He then went on to explain to the shocked Ichigo how he's managed to kill so many shinigami over the years.

As Shigeru watched from the sidelines her blood boiling, "_This creature is vile…_"

Out of all the hollows and arrancars, she hated this one the most. Even more than the hollow that was a former serial killer. Grand Fisher distorted and disgraced the memories of loved ones. It was infuriating. He didn't do it for his petty amusement. She gripped her swords. Oh, how she wanted to cut the thing down, but that honor would go to someone else in due time. Someone who truly deserved vengeance. Shigeru took a deep breath and loosened the death grip she had on her blades.

"_Someone has to be calm here_," she huffed.

The fake Masaki spoke, "Ichigo…"

Ichigo was starting to hyperventilate, "This isn't the place to bring my mother's form into!"

He charged forward only for the fake Masaki to cut him off. He froze as it spoke, "Don't Ichigo. Sheath the sword. Don't hurt Momma."

Because of his hesitation, Ichigo was impaled in the stomach along with the lure. Blood splattered everywhere. Grand Fisher pulled his claw from the boy distancing himself from the teen.

Ichigo stabbed his sword in the ground in order to keep his balance. He grit his teeth to fight against the pain.

"_That's it! I can't watch this anymore!_"

Shigeru sighed as she re-sheathed her swords. She stomped over to the boy, punching him in the head.

Ichigo fell to the ground with a thump. He shot off the ground to glare down at the girl trying to intimidate her with his height, but she couldn't take him seriously with his battered and bloodied body. He could barely even stand.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked in a deadly calm voice.

She glared back and punched him in his already injured gut. He gasped and crumbled to the ground coughing up some blood, "Stop acting like a child and focus! You need to calm down. That thing is _not_ your mother. Now, either kill that monster or be killed by it."

The teen slowly got back on his feet to face the hollow.

"Now decide what you're going to do: live or die," Shigeru frowned, facing to hollow.

The hollow chuckled, "See? Your comrade had to jump in to save you. Out of all the shinigami I've killed you are the weakest of th-"

Ichigo's blade impaled the beast in its shoulder.

"Wha?"

A smile spread across Shigeru's face, "_Atta boy!_"

Ichigo glared at the monster, ""Anger dulls the blade", that's what you said, right? But you made one mistake…"

He drove the sword further into its shoulder earning a yelp from the beast.

"A dull sword is enough to defeat a bastard like you! It's over Grand Fisher," Ichigo yelled as he sliced away half his body and arm.

The monster screeched as it crawled over the ground. It's blood splattering across the landscape.

Ichigo labored breath echoed through the woods. Rain began to gently fall over them. The hollow glared up at the shinigami as it squirmed on the ground.

"Ichigo! Shigeru," Rukia yelled as she arrived.

Ichigo grinned at her as he huffed, "You're late...I've already handled it."

"You fool. You told me not to interfere," she smiled gently.

Ichigo laughed, "Yeah…"

Rukia's eyes widened, "Ichigo! Behind you!"

Grand Fisher tried to attack the boy from behind. Shigeru intercepted the claws with her blades.

" Seriously, Ichigo… the first rule of battle is literally _don't_ turn your back on the enemy," she grunted as she sliced the claws from the hollow's body.

It screeched as the furry body entered the fake Masaki preparing to escape. Shigeru flashed behind the hollow. She buried her blades into its back and through its chest.

"You might escape, but I want you to know it was because I _allowed_ it," she whispered into the hollows ear, "I would kill you, but this isn't my fight to finish."

She withdrew her blades allowing it to jump away. She turned to see Rukia struggling to hold the bleeding teen back. Shigeru sheathed her swords, and walked over to the two.

"How could you let him go," Ichigo yelled trying to push the smaller girl away to follow the beast.

Rukia struggled to stop the bleeding from his wounds, "Enough! Stop already! This fight is over!"

"No! Not yet! He's still not dead! I can still fight," the boy argued.

Shigeru wrapped her arms gently around the teen from behind. Calmly she said, "It's over, Ichigo. Let it go... just let it go."

The boy finally passed out. Shigeru gently placed him on the ground. She cradled his head on her lap.

"Rukia, can you heal him," she asked quietly.

Rukia nodded her head, "Yes, with his strength...our idiot won't die."

The girls chuckled to each other.

"Shigeru, thank you," Rukia said quietly as she began healing the boys wounds with kido.

The substitute shinigami just hummed as she ran her fingers through the boys hair.

Shigeru plugged her ears as Ichigo complained about the pain he was in after Rukia healed up his wounds.

"I lost...didn't I," the boy asked quietly.

Rukia sighed, "What are you talking about? He fled. No one died. You won."

"But he's still alive," he frowned, "I…"

The boy got to his feet and started to walk off.

"Ichigo," the small woman questioned.

He waved her off, "Sorry...I'll be a while."

Shigeru eyed the boy as he left. She turned to Rukia, "Just give him time alone."

Shigeru went in the opposite direction.

"Where are you going?"

"To go get my body, duh!"

"Sorry, I forget that you're human too."

"Honestly, don't know how to take that," she laughed.

Rukia faced the girl, "I meant that despite being in a situation similar to Ichigo your skills are better than his. You seem more shinigami than human sometimes."

Shigeru hummed as she gazed down at her zanpakuto, "_More shinigami than human?_"

"Have you learned it's name yet," Rukia asked looking at the swords on the girl's waist.

Shigeru shrugged her shoulders, "Not yet. I haven't tried asking yet. We've still got time for that…"

"I see…"

Rukia stared at the Shigeru's retreating form. She thought about some of Shigeru's abilities, but mainly her swords.

"_Shigeru's reiatsu is about the same as Ichigo's. Actually she has a little bit more, but...I wonder why her zanpakuto are so small compared to his. It's not rare, I don't think, but something about her having dual zanpakuto that size seems special. Not to mention she knows it should have a name. I haven't even told Ichigo that. Is Kisuke giving her lessons_," she inquired as she stuffed Kon back in her bag.

Shigeru found her body in the exact same spot that she'd left it. The rain flattened her hair and she was soaked to the bone. Once she entered her body she felt the chill from the rain.

She sneezed, "Ugh, I'd rather be hot than cold!"

Isshin was frantic when he saw how soaked Shigeru was from the rain and insisted she stay over to warm up. She was glad to see that the girls were safe. Karin seemed to think that everything that happened was just a dream and convinced herself that they had passed out from the heat.

Shigeru was currently sitting on the couch with Karin. The smaller girl's head was laying on Shigeru's lap. She was fighting her sleep as Shigeru gently raked her fingers through her short black hair. Shigeru flipped through the channels with her free hand.

"The bathroom is free! Shigeru, you can jump in," Yuzu called down.

Karin hugged the teen around her waist and whined, "But I was just getting comfortable!"

"C'mon! I'll come back to reclaim my new job as your pillow when I'm done, " she laughed.

Karin reluctantly rolled off of the girl and grumbled, "You'd better!"

"Bossy lil' thing aren't you," she grinned.

She made her way to the bathroom and stopped when she heard Ichigo and Rukia arguing. Shigeru grinned with an evil twinkle in her eye as she snuck over to his door. Without warning she burst in. Ichigo screamed and Rukia tried and failed to drive into his closet, slipping on Kon, falling face first instead.

"You should really lock the door or keep it down. I can hear you two arguing from the stairs," she grinned.

Ichigo pulled her further in the room and slammed his door behind her. He turned on her, "_Why_ would you do that?"

"I thought it would be funny to scare you," she laughed.

Rukia, who now sported a growing knot on her forehead, whispered harshly, "Well it wasn't!"

Shigeru giggled as she looked around Ichigo's room. It was a lot roomier than it appeared when watching the anime.

"_No wonder all the shinigami came to his room for meetings_," she mused.

She went to sit on his bed. She ran her hand across the blue blanket with the white cross stretching over its entirety.

"_Foreshadowing!_"

Ichigo frowned, crossing his arms, "Seriously, Shigeru...you're one of the strangest girls I've met."

"Why, thank you!"

"That's not a compliment," he yelled putting her in a headlock messing up her hair.

"Not the hair!"

He grinned evilly, "It's the only thing you care about! I'll tangle it up nice and good for you!"

"Nooooooo," she whined before flipping the boy away from her.

He went crashing into his closet.

The damage was already done. She pouted as she tried to run a hand through her brown locks.

She sighed, "I'm taking over the bath for a while, plus I promised Karin I'd be her pillow."

Shigeru walked over to exit the room as she reached for the knob Ichigo got off the floor.

"Hey, Shigeru…"

She looked over her shoulder, "Hmm, Ichigo?"

"Thank you," he said scratching his cheek meekly.

She smiled brightly, "Aw! Don't go getting soft on me, Strawberry!"

"Strawberry?!"

She ran out of the room before he could tackle her. He chased after her, leaving Rukia and Kon to themselves. Rukia smiled as she listened to the thumps and bickering.

"Get back here Shigeru!"

"Papa-Isshin, Ichigo's bullying me!"

"Am not!"

"Papa-Isshin to the rescue!"

"Gah! Get away, old man!"

"Dad, Ichigo, stop! Shigeru is trying to take a bath!"

"Yeah! You Strawberry perv!"

"What did you call me?!"

Rukia giggled to herself as she heard another series of crashes and thumps, "_Those two are something else." _

Kon groaned, "This house is too noisy."

**Authors Note: As I said earlier I'm thinking of following the events of the manga more than the anime, but it might seem like a combo of both depending on the situation of fights. Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter will feature the great Don Kanonji!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: How are you guys liking Shigeru so far? Let me know! Who do you guys think Shigeru will be paired off with? Kisuke, Kenpachi, or Grimmjow? I know, but do you know?**

Chapter 3: Where'd They Find This Guy?!

The people of the small town of Karakura were gathering in the dead of night. They were coming from far and wide to bear witness to the great event that was going to take place. The people fell into lines as they walked up to the abandoned hospital. Road blockers were present to keep the great people of the sleepy town from getting too close to the ominous building. Camera crews scattered about to record the event, broadcasting to those who couldn't make the event.

A ghostly scream mixed with a howl echoed around the area.

Only those who could sense the otherworldly could hear, but for the ignorant it was alright for them to have no fear.

Heroes stood amongst them in the crowd. Heroes that have dedicated their lives to save the public―

"This is so stupid," Ichigo groaned.

Shigeru crossed her arms examining her nails, " Why're we even here again?"

"Is this what humans find entertaining," Rukia asked the teen.

The taller girl sighed, "Humans are stupid, Rukia. Even humans know that."

"Yep," Ichigo nodded.

….Okay, so our heroes can be cynical, but trust me they will save the day. Somehow? Maybe?

* * *

_Yesterday Night_

Shigeru was painting her nails black at the dinner table as the two excitable members of the Kurosaki family watched tv. Isshin and Yuzu were watching Don Kanonji's television show. It was just like the paranormal investigation shows from her world, where the audience sees nothing as the crew freaks out. It made Shigeru miss _Buzzfeed: Unsolved _actually.

"_Ah, I miss the boys and their ghouls_," she giggled.

The man psychic on the screen crossed his arms across his chest giving his signature laugh. Isshin and Yuzu mimicked him.

"Bahahaha!"

Ichigo's, who was sitting across from her, eye twitched, "What are you two doing?"

Yuzu beamed, "Don't you know? It's _Ghost Bust _starring the charismatic medium Don Kanonji!"

"He meant that ridiculous pose, Yuzu," Shigeru said plainly as she blew on the wet polish.

She ignored them as Don was doing his famed laugh again.

Ichigo turned to Shigeru, "I hate that guy. I don't understand why they love that show so much."

Shigeru turned her head to the tv and then back to the boy, "It's because he's an idiot."

"He's so cool," Yuzu cheered, "I want to be able to see ghosts!"

Shigeru started to paint her other hand, "It's an overrated experience."

"I second that," Karin said, taking a seat next to her.

Ichigo hummed taking a sip of his water.

Yuzu squealed, "Oh my gosh! They're coming to Karakura town for the new episode!"

Shigeru, Karin, and Ichigo blinked.

"What?!"

* * *

_The next morning_

Shigeru, Rukia, and Ichigo entered the classroom. Orihime appeared doing the signature Don laughs and pose.

"Bahahaha," the busty girl laughed arms crossed over her chest in an x.

Shigeru groaned, "Is this our life now?"

Orihime blinked at the lack of reaction from the group, "Do you guys not know what that's from?"

Ichigo sighed, "_Ghost Bust_, right?"

"That's right," she beamed, "let's do it together, Bahaha-"

Tatsuki cut the girl off dragging her, "Come with me."

"Tatsuki?! Why?"

She was dragged away from the other teens. Keigo and Mizuiro walked over.

"Good morning guys," she smiled.

The boys exchanged a look and then crossed their arms over their chest.

"Bahahaha!"

Shigeru slapped Keigo with her bag and glared Mizuiro .

"Why just me," the brown haired boy groaned.

Ichigo turned to see Chad silently in the pose as well. Shigeru sighed at that. She couldn't possibly be angry with Chad.

Ichigo and Keigo were talking in the hallway during break.

"What do you mean? How can you not go to the live recording," Keigo yelled.

Ichigo shrugged, "I'm not interested."

"The entire town is going to be there! If you don't go you'll be as good as dead to this town," Keigo whined.

Ichigo stared at the boy, "Well, guess I'm dead."

"I even went through the trouble of inviting Rukia," Keigo whined as he motioned the short girl.

She curtsied with a fake smile, "How's it going, Ichigo?"

"_How's it going, faker,_" he deadpanned.

Keigo turned back to the boy, "See now you have to come!"

"Pass," Ichigo walked away.

Keigo ran after him, "Please, Ichigo! I'll invite Shigeru too!"

"Hard pass," Shigeru called out from inside the classroom.

"You both are such killjoys," Keigo whined.

* * *

_Back to where we started_

Our heroes were dragged along by the overly excited Yuzu and Isshin, plus an uncaring Karin. Shigeru tried to cover her face with sunglasses and the hood of an over sized hoodie. But Isshin kept pulling down the hood from her head, saying she's too adorable to cover her face. Ichigo was just hunched over exasperated by everything. They saw Orihime, Tatsuki, Rukia, Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo.

Keigo and Mizurio spotted the two and pointed, "You came!"

"Shut up or I'll kill you," Ichigo growled while Shigeru hid behind Isshin.

The two ran away to hide behind Chad.

They peeked around the tall teen and did the signature laugh.

Shigeru sighed, "I swear they're doing that on purpose…"

"They know I hate this show and do it to annoy me," he grumbled.

Orihime walked up to Ichigo, "So... you came."

"Yeah, Yuzu and the old man are huge fans of the show," Ichigo pointed to the two who were doing the signature laugh.

Orihime mused, "You're little sister and father…What about you, Shigeru?"

"That is not my name tonight. I'm going by the alias Chi," the other teen groaned pulling her hair in a tight bun hoping no one else recognized her.

Ichigo slapped the back of her head, "Would you take those stupid sunglasses off! It's night!"

"No, this is embarrassing!," she ran to stand by Karin who was trying to fade into the background.

Orihime laughed, "Shigeru sure is energetic!"

"Karin and Yuzu begged her to tag along. She just can't say no to them," Ichigo explained.

Orihime smiled, "Even though you guys hate this stuff you came for them. That's so nice of you."

"Hm, it's just normal," Ichigo looked at the girl slightly confused.

Orihime smiled to herself, "Yes, you're right it's normal…"

Tatsuki called Orihime back over to her as the show looked like it was about to start. The girl waved a good-bye to Ichigo before leaving to join the other teen.

Shigeru rejoined her fellow substitute shinigami as he grumbled, "Everyone gathering around like idiots it'll make the tv networks think we'll watch anything."

"People _will_ watch anything," she sighed.

"What's wrong with you two? You seem so down."

They turned around to see Rukia now doing the signature laugh.

"_This bitch_," they both thought.

Shigeru was getting a headache from hearing that obnoxious laugh, "The next person to impersonate that man I'm punching!"

Rukia laughed, "Seriously, what's wrong with you two?"

Ichigo crossed his arms, "Oh, shut up! You just wanted to have fun tonight."

"Can I go home," Shigeru pouted.

Ichigo blinked, "But Dad and Yuzu are having fun. We can't go home yet, and it hasn't even started."

"I meant _my_ actual apartment. I'm part-time in this family," she smiled at the boy.

Rukia patted Shigeru on the back, "Come on! You must be tired from balancing school and fighting hollows. You should take the time to relax!"

Ichigo's face lit up with wonder. Shigeru already knew what he was thinking. She turned to the petite woman.

"Do you even know what all of this is for?"

Rukia smiled, "Not at all!"

Ichigo's face fell before he stomped up to the woman, "Are you serious?"

He quickly explained about the tv show, but they both doubted that she actually got what was going on.

Ichigo looked up at the abandoned hospital. Skepticism written all over his face, "Is there even a spirit haunting this place?"

"How is it you've been able to see spirits since, like, forever, and you find it hard to believe that a hospital, where people die, is haunted," Shigeru asked the boy as she finally took off her shades.

Ichigo frowned, "Cause the guy's probably a fraud, and doing this to boost rating."

"Well what makes you so sure? I mean, we see spirits," she smirked before pointing to Rukia, "Hell, she _is_ a spirit."

Rukia pouted, "Hey, leave me out of this! And to answer your question this place could have an Earth-bound spirit."

Ichigo turned to her, "Earth-bound spirit?"

Rukia pulled out her handy-dandy sketchbook. Ichigo groaned as she started her draw explanations.

"They are naturally assimilated to the land they reside, so it's hard for the Soul Society to pinpoint them. They only really show themselves…"

A crew member ran through with a light, brushing past Ichigo. When he got within a certain radius of the hospital a deep howl mixed with a human scream echoed around them.

"Is when a human trespasses in it's territory…," she finished.

Ichigo scowled, "What's that voice?"

"Sounds hollow-ish but at the same time it doesn't," Shigeru stepped closer to Ichigo.

Rukia smirked, "That's pretty spot on. It's a demi-hollow. A plus that's slowly turning into a hollow. His heart has been caught by the hospital.."

Shigeru rolled up the sleeves of her hoodie and jammed her hands into her back pockets, cocking her hip to the side. She sighed, "Do we really not get days off from being shinigami? I'm starting a union!"

The spirit emerged from the ground. He had short spiky light hair. He was in a pink bodysuit, covered in chains. The chains extended to the hospital. A hole forming on his chest, a chained peeling the hole open. It took a breath and wailed.

"Ooooooooooaaaaa," it bellowed.

Karin frowned, "I knew I shouldn't have come."

Tatsuki and Orihime looked at each other anxiously.

Chad looked on nervously.

Shigeru put a hand over her ear, "Jesus fucking Christ! The lungs on that thing!"

Rukia went on to explain to Ichigo what a hollow's mask is actually for and so on in comparison the demi-hollow in front of them. Shigeru examined her manicured nails.

"_Hmm, I did a good job on these_," she mused.

The spirit began to shout his regrets, well, more like demands, "This hospital is mine! I won't hand it over to _anyone_! You guys can't come in! If you get any closer I'll kill ya!"

Ichigo couldn't help but stare blankly at the demi-hollow, "So this guy's an idiot…"

"If you come in you have to pay," the spirit shouted at the crew members setting up the.

Shigeru frowned and cracked her knuckles, "Is this ghost seriously trying to haggle us for money?!"

The ghost went on about how he was supposed to inherit the hospital and all of the expensive things he was going to buy with the money he would of had. Then he went on about how his brother was to one to inherit the hospital instead.

"That's one greedy ass grudge," Ichigo said astonished.

"...," Rukia had no comment.

"When the hell is this show going to start," Shigeru ran a hand down her face.

She groaned, "_I pray that I don't have stupid ass regrets!_"

An announcement was made for everyone to settle down and a countdown began for the filming of the show.

Shigeru was ignoring most of what the announcer was saying as he hyped the crowd up for the medium's arrival. She just wanted to go home. This was actually one of the funnier moments of the series that she truly enjoyed, but she was just tired from all the schoolwork and hollow hunting. The wind started to pick up as a helicopter descended from the skies. Everyone looked on excitedly as Don Kanonji jumped from the helicopter.

"Hello babies! Spirits are always with you," the psychic yelled as he landed.

The audience cheered on as he decided to strike a X pose.

Ichigo and Shigeru's mouths dropped from the sheer stupidity.

"This is the most outlandish shit I've ever seen...and I fight monsters for a living," the shorter of the two tried not to laugh.

Rukia clapped excitedly with the rest of the crowd, much to Ichigo's horror.

Ichigo shouted, "Hey! Don't get swept away!"

"Ichigo, let her have this," Shigeru sighed.

Ichigo frowned and pointed to the demi-hollow, "But shouldn't we perform konsho on the guy? I mean he's turning into a hollow, right?"

Shigeru turned her attention to the spirit that was currently shouting in the psychic's face. Don Kanonji placed a hand to his chin as he observed the spirit up close.

"We should be fine," she said quickly knowing that they were in fact not fine.

Rukia turned to Ichigo and pointed to the demi-hollows forming hole, "Don't worry! It takes months, even years, to turn into a hollow. He won't turn in an hour…"

Don stared at the forming hole and gripped his staff.

"Unless something messes with it's forming hole!"

The staff was impaled into the forming hole. The demi-hollow screeched in pain.

Rukia and Ichigo's head snapped toward the two.

"Don't worry! I'll send you to heaven," Kanonji yelled as he drove the staff further into the demi-hollow's chest.

Ichigo growled, "What the hell is he doing?"

"Shigeru, Ichigo, this is not good!"

They turned the shinigami, "He's spreading the spirit's wound! If he keeps that up he'll speed up the hollowfication process!"

The idiot medium began to chant as the spirit wailed even louder.

Ichigo dashed off and jumped over the barricade line and shouted, "Stop, you idiot!"

As Ichigo continued to run toward the medium, a dozen security guards tackled him.

"Agh!"

Shigeru cackled, "I've been waiting for this!"

"Let go! Something bad is about to happen," Ichigo yelled as he struggled to get out of the men's grip.

Rukia slipped on her glove as she jumped over the line, "Ichigo, come here! I'll change you into a shinigami!"

Ichigo turned toward her preparing to meet her half way when―

"Seize her!"

Rukia was tackled by another squadron of security guards.

Shigeru stepped a foot over the line to get closer so that she could point and laugh!

"You guy's are so stupid," she cackled.

Ichigo yelled, "Stop laughing and _do_ something, Shigeru!"

"I am," she pulled out her phone to snap pictures of him and Rukia struggling against the men restraining them.

She moved a little closer. Just a couple steps ahead of the line.

A security guard noticed her.

"Another one!"

Before the men could tackle her she smashed the heel of her palm against the man's nose. He flew back into the group of men behind him.

"I'm barely over the line," she shouted in the direction of the men.

She didn't notice the new group of security guards that tackled her while she was distracted.

"Why is there so much security," she shouted fighting her way out of the men's grip.

A yelled, "This one's strong!"

"Agh," she yelled as she sent a couple men flying.

"Let go," Rukia yelled to the men.

Ichigo shouted at Rukia, "Break free and get over here! What're you doing?"

"Break free?! You're the guy! You should be able to get to me," she yelled back.

Shigeru tossed another man off of her. Hair out of her bun looking wild and clothes disheveled. She looked down at her nails that were now chipped.

"Dammit! Look what you did! I did them perfectly! Come on!"

Another security guard tackled her.

"Seriously! How much security does a paranormal investigation show need," she shouted.

The chains surrounding the demi-hollow began to break all around. The greedy spirit howled loudly.

Rukia yelled, "Oh no! Ichigo! Shigeru!"

"I'm trying," the teens yelled in unison.

A cane went through Ichigo's skull sending his spirit tumbling forward. The guards panicked over his slack form they were currently holding. Before Shigeru could question what just happened she too was launched from her body, but unlike Ichigo she gracefully landed on her feet.

"Ow, dammit Kisuke," she whined rubbing the back of her head, "warn a girl first!"

Kisuke waved his fan with his goofy grin spread across his face, "But where's the fun in that, Little Miss Shigeru?"

Tessai collected Ichigo and Shigeru's bodies from the security guards, bowing as an apology for their behavior.

"Mr. Hat and Clogs," Ichigo questioned.

Urahara waved his fan at the boy, "No spacing out, Ichigo. Now get in there."

"That's right!"

The boy turned and stormed up to the idiot psychic. Kisuke gazed at the pouting Shigeru.

"Aren't you going with him?"

She folded her hands behind her head as she smirked at the man, "Nah, he's got this."

"Why're you here, Urahara? Are you scheming something," Rukia scrutinized the man.

Urahara smiled, "Nope!"

Shigeru turned away just in time to see Ichigo all but tackle Don Kanonji. She hopped over to the men. Ichigo was in the middle of yelling at the man when Shigeru interjected.

"_Who_ is your stylist? They don't love you," she asked the psychic.

Don struck a pose, "I'm my own stylist, little lady!"

"So you don't love yourself," she gasped, placing a hand over her heart.

Ichigo punched the girl in the shoulder, "Now is _not _the time!"

"How is it_ not_? He looks ridiculous," she yelled.

Ichigo yelled, "You're acting ridiculous!"

"Says the boy that just jumped onto a live shooting of the television show that's being broadcast around the city," she yelled back shoving a finger into his chest.

Ichigo pointed to her, "You did the same thing!"

"No, _Rukia_, did the same thing! I was basically on the side lines minding my business," Shigeru glared as she rubbed her sore shoulder.

Ichigo grabbed his hair, "You were laughing while taking pictures!"

"Exactly, minding my business!"

Don cleared his throat, "Excuse me, little boy, little girl,why did you interfere?"

The spirit that was previously being assaulted began his transformation into a hollow. The hole on his chest ripped open completely before he exploded into a blinding white light. Shigeru shielded her eyes from the light. When the light died down the spirit had vanished.

"_Yeah, I'm over this. I'm sitting out this fight_, " she grumbled.

Ichigo was puzzled as he stared at the spot the spirit was, "It..it disappeared!"

"Mission complete," Don yelled in victory.

The crowd cheered loudly for the man as the announcer hyped him up even further.

Ichigo looked around for the spirit, "Did he really get rid of it?"

"No he did _not_," Shigeru sighed crossing her arms. She turned to the boy, "I'm not helping you with this fight by the way."

Ichigo spun around to face her, "What? Why?"

"Again,_ I'm_ not the one that rushed into this," she said plainly, taking a few steps back.

Don laughed, "You two young people are wandering spirits too, right? Don't worry I'll send you off as well. No fee involved."

Shigeru frowned before jumping away to create more distance, "Nah, I'm good on all that man."

"Shigeru! Get back here and help!"

She turned around and stuck her tongue out at the boy, "If it looks like you're struggling I'll jump in!"

"Some little sister you are," he yelled gripping his sword.

Shigeru laughed, "I'm older than you, and I'd pay attention to _that_ if I were you."

She pointed to the sky as a blob of white formed into a newly formed hollow. The blob landed on the roof of the hospital. It's headless body clawed the edge of the building. The head of the spirit from before sprung up from the neck. It bellowed as a white substance erupted from his mouth and and nose, covering his face. It solidified into a mask. It stared down at the people on the ground and howled.

"What is that monster," Don asked.

Ichigo sputtered, "What do you mean?! Have you never seen a hollow before?!"

"Of course, I have! I'm the greatest spirit medium of the century," he boasted nervously.

Ichigo sighed as he pulled out his over sized zanpakuto, "Yeah, whatever man. Just stay out of the way while I handle this."

Don cupped his ears and yelled, "What's this! Sensing! Sensing! I'm sensing a dangerous spirit!"

The crowd cheered as he continued his performance.

"You must be the evil boss of the spirit from before! You've come for vengeance, but I'll be the one to stop you," Don faced the crowd and posed with his staff.

Shigeru placed her hands behind her head as she stared at the ravenous creature.

"_Didn't this thing have some kind of ability,_" she thought hard as her brows furrowed.

The hollow jumped off the roof and yelled, "I'll devour your soul!"

Ichigo turned to the medium to tell him to run only for the man to toss Ichigo behind him.

"Leave, young man! I've got this handled," he declared.

The man charged toward the monster, "Come, evil spirit! I shall be your opponent!"

Ichigo followed after the man unsheathing his sword, "This idiot!"

Before the hollow could bite the medium's head off the young shinigami deflected the beast sending it flying in the opposite direction. The two began to bicker the hollow snuck up behind Ichigo. Ichigo swung his sword but the creature blocked it with its enormous hand.

Shigeru was annoyed as she muttered, "How many times do I have to tell him _not_ to turn his back in battle?"

"So fascinating and yet terrible," she heard from a voice behind her.

Her eyes met Kisuke's as he continued, "What should we do about that?"

Shigeru turned back to the bickering idiots and Ichigo tackled the medium out of the way once again. The hollow went crashing into the hospital wall. While it was stuck, Shigeru sighed jumping into action.

"_Let's get this over with so we can all go home_," she groaned.

When she got close to the other two the hollow emerged from the wall pouncing at the group. Ichigo grabbed Kanonji by the back of his trench coat and tossed Shigeru over his shoulder with his other hand. He crashed through the entrance of the hospital.

Shigeru spit out wood chips as she struggled against his hold, "Would you put me down! Hey!"

The boy ignored her as he continued to run through the halls.

"Why are you running away, young man? Let me go," Don yelled as he struggled against the boys' hold.

Ichigo kept running, "You're the one that told me to run!"

"Why did I get dragged along," Shigeru yelled in his ear.

He flinched, "Sorry! It was a reflex!"

Don yelled at the two teens, "I told _you_ to run! Not me! I _can't_ run away!"

Ichigo's eye twitch as he flung the man ahead of him. Don crashed into one of the walls. He then dropped Shigeru unceremoniously.

"What the hell, Strawberry! That _hurt_," she kicked him behind his knees making him buckle to the floor.

He turned the yell in her face, "Don't call me that!"

"Or what? Strawberry! Strawberry! _Shitty Strawberry,_" she chanted.

Ichigo tackled her to the ground and pulled her hair.

She gasped, "Oh no you did _not_ just pull my hair!"

Shigeru was pulled into a headlock as the boy mushed up her hair. She whined trying to get the boy off of her.

Then Ichigo turned on the medium, who flinched, and yelled, "And you! Give me a break! Since earlier you've been saying "I can't run away." Now explain yourself because I just don't understand!"

Don hesitated before pointing to the boy, "That's the same thing I was going to ask you!"

"I'm the one asking questions! Now answer!," Ichigo roared as he released Shigeru.

Don was a little lost for words, "...Okay."

The two teens leaned in waiting for his answer. Shigeru tried to straighten herself out as she asked, "Yeah, why won't you run away, idiot?"

Don pushed his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose, "It is because...I'm a hero."

He went on a rant on how he's a pacifist who does like battles and being an awesome medium and what not.

Ichigo stared at the man stupefied while Shigeru pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Can't we let the hollow eat him," she whispered to Ichigo.

"Of course not! Why would you even suggest it," he whispered back harshly.

"Cause he's a goddamn moron," she hissed pulling her hair into a tight bun, "and I want to go home! Now I have to get serious for no reason!"

Ichigo huffed as he crossed his arms, " Yeah right. You never take hollow hunting seriously!"

"Cause they're weak and unimportant annoyances," she muttered.

She marched up to the medium poking his in the chest, " I get that you're doing this to give hope to the small children who watch this stupid show, but if you encounter a damn monster that you have no chance of winning against just run!"

Kanonji patted the girl on her head. His gaze gently yet firm, "If you know I'm doing it for the children then you must understand that I simply can't run away. They enjoy what I do, and when they see me stand up to evil spirits they know what courage is.."

Shigeru pouted and crossed her arms. Begrudgingly she agreed, "I suppose you're right…"

"Now let go back outside to fight the monster," he declared trying to run past Ichigo.

Shigeru pulled him back by his collar, "No! You idiot! Just when I thought you had some sense!"

Ichigo yelled at the man, "What would you do if you went out there and the audience got mixed up in the fight?! You're the hero! You have to protect your fans too!"

"That's right! That thing is called a hollow. It goes after people with high spiritual pressure to eat," Shigeru explained releasing the man.

Ichigo continued, "That's right. People with high spiritual pressure are people like me and Shigeru, and guys with souls like you, Kanonji."

"So if we fight in the hospital away from the crowd, that could have others like us, no one gets hurt," Shigeru sighed as she sensed the hollow getting closer by the second.

Don was astonished, "Little boy, little girl, outstanding...you're fighting while thinking about the people…"

The howl of the hollow echoed through the building.

"It's close by," Ichigo yelled.

The hollow emerged through the floor to block the way they came from. Ichigo swung his hulking sword in the narrow hallway. It got stuck in the ceiling mid-swing.

"Ichigo…"

The hollow roared charging for them. Shigeru used her reiatsu to enhance her body. She pounced over the charging hollow bringing her legs down on it's back. It went tumbling back through the floor descending a couple floor. She turned back to the boy as he struggled to get his sword out of the ceiling. She kicked the flat side of the sword sending it and Ichigo with it down the end of the hall toward the stairway.

She glared at the medium and cocked her head in the direction of the fallen shinigami, "Let's head to the roof. We can't fight in this cramped space."

Don nodded his head, "Yes, little lady!"

They ran to the stairs and she snatched up the other teen, "Let's go, dumb-ass! That thing should be back in a few minutes!"

As they approached the rooftop the hollow crashed through the stairway a couple floors below them. It charged toward the group. Once they reached the landing Shigeru and Ichigo kicked down the door sending it flying clear off the roof. They ran to the edge of the roof. Shigeru quickly glanced over the edge to see the excited crowd. The hollow emerged from the door destroying it in the process. She slapped the rumble away before it could hit her face. Ichigo readied to charge it when the hollow opened its mouth spitting a green slime over the boy sticking him to the roofs edge.

Shigeru jumped out of the way of the splatter, "Oh, _gross_! That's what it does!"

"Get this stuff off of me, Shigeru," Ichigo struggled against the slime.

Shigeru's face scrunched up in disgust, "I'm not touching the shit!"

"Then cut it off! It's hardening," Ichigo shouted.

Shigeru backed away from the boy, "I'm not letting my babies touch that stuff either!"

The hollow jumped. Its mouth wide open ready to snap at the arguing teen. Don stopped it with his staff jammed into its mouth.

The teens blinked in surprise, "Wow…"

"Are you okay little ones," Don turned to face the shinigamis.

Shigeru blinked, "_He's almost cool. Almost_."

Ichigo yelled, "Quit it, Kanonji! You can't win against that thing!"

The staff began to crack as Don kept his cool, "I have abilities. I can understand the difference between me and the enemy."

Ichigo eyes widened with wonder.

"However, you two children have made an impression on me…"

Shigeru rolled her eyes crossing her arms over her chest, "_Oh god, a hero monologue…_"

"The way of fighting where one thinks of people's safety indiscriminately...your way of fighting is befitting of heroes!," Don declared.

Ichigo looked touched until―

"Allow me to call you two my Battle Buddies," he declared with sparkles surrounding him.

Ichigo was stunned, "No...no thank you."

"Hard pass," Shigeru snorted.

Don turned back to the hollow and yelled, "Allow me to die protecting you!"

Ichigo yelled, "Now, you wait a minute!"

The medium's spiritual pressure began to rise. His hand began to cackle, "Kanonji-Style's Ultimate Technique!"

A tiny sphere appeared in his palm, "Kanon Ball!"

Ichigo stopped his struggle against the hardened slime, "What...what's that? Are you going to do something to the hollow with that?"

Shigeru leaned closer to Ichigo, "Um, is that really going to be effective? It's so_ tiny_."

Ichigo tried not to laugh, "Hey, Kan―"

Don pointed his hand at the two teens. The small sphere slowly floated over to the teens as he yelled, "Strike!"

Once it made contact with the slime it exploded. Ichigo screamed in shock and Shigeru jumped out of her skin.

"_I forgot about that,_" she yelled internally.

She tripped over her feet falling over the railing of the roof.

"Oh shit!"

"Shigeru" Ichigo shouted as he failed to reach the girl in time.

She went plummeting down toward the crowd. Shigeru squeezed her eyes shut readying for impact. She figured it would hurt, but she wouldn't be hurt too bad if she used her reiatsu to soften the fall. Much to her shock she landed on something firm... yet soft?

"Wha?"

"Hmm, I didn't expect you to be so bold…"

Shigeru looked down at the grinning face of Kisuke. His hat knocked off to the side and arms spread out eagle style. He stared at her with twinkling eyes. She looked down at her position, and was currently sitting on his stomach her thighs on either side of his midsection.

"Not that I'm complaining, Little Miss Shigeru," he winked.

Shigeru's face lit up in a blush as she quickly removed herself from the man. She was not prepared for that! He laughed as he got to his feet, and extended a hand toward her. She brushed it away.

"Sorry about that," she coughed standing on her feet on her own as she willed her face to cool down.

Kisuke pouted as he picked up his hat, "How cold of you! And here I thought we were getting close."

"Oh shut it! It was an accident," she crossed her arms.

Kisuke grinned as he pointed to the roof, "How's it going up there?"

"Stupid. I'm ready to go home. They should be done any second now," she sighed as she took her hair out of the tight bun that was causing her a headache.

She heard the medium shout his obnoxious laugh over the roof to the crowd. She groaned loudly as the crowd loudly joined in.

"Where the hell is Tessai with my body," her eye twitched.

Kisuke covered his face with his white fan as he glanced at the form of the retreating girl, "_Our Little Shigeru sure does know how to predict things…_"

As predicted the young heroes saved the night and gained another unexpected ally. They would cherish this today and the bond forged through battle. Everyone was happy―

"Ichigo, stop playing around with that dumb-ass so we can go! _Now_," Shigeru yelled up to the roof extremely annoyed.

On second thought, not everyone was happy...

* * *

_The next day at school _

"I can't even believe this! Do you guys have any_ idea _what you've done," yelled the P.E. teacher, Kagine-sensei.

All of the teens who were present at the live show the night before stood in the office being stared down by their teachers and principal.

"Take a look at this," he yelled.

A huge projection started to play behind the principal's back. It showed Ichigo jumping over the boundary only to be tackled, Rukia following after him only to also be tackled, and Shigeru pointing and laughing before sending a man flying and then tackled herself.

"This," he pointed to the projection, "was aired on a nationwide live broadcast tv show that was filmed in our hometown yesterday!"

"Nationwide," Ochi-sensei gasped.

Kagine-sensei marched up to Ichigo as the clip played in a loop, "Well, Kurosaki. What do you have to say when you look at that?"

"Looks a lot like me, doesn't he," he said trying to keep a straight face.

Kagine-sensei yelled, "Every inch of him is you, moron!"

Shigeru snorted.

Kagine-sensei turned to Shigeru, "What do you have to say for yourself, Kuroi?"

She examined her freshly painted nails before looking the man in the eyes, "To be honest with you, sir. I'd like to start by saying that that was _way_ too much security for a tv production."

"That's all you have to say," he yelled exasperated, "with that image going around do you know how much shame you've brought this school?!"

Tatsuki raised her hand, "Excuse me! I understand why Ichigo, Rukia, and Shigeru are here. They were actually on tv being idiots, but why are Orihime and I here?"

Kagine-sensei turned to the girl, "But you were with him…"

"Unintentionally, we just happened to run into them, but we had nothing to do with it," she claimed putting her hands on her hips.

Keigo jumped in, "That's a lie! I invited them both!"

"He's obviously delusional. Don't believe him," she declared plainly.

Ichigo looked over to his childhood friend/traitor and mumbled, "...So you're just going to save yourself."

Tatsuki stuck her tongue out of the boy before grabbing Orihime's hand, "We're going back to class. Let's go, Orihime!"

"I'm leaving too," Shigeru declared walking toward the door.

Kagine-sensei pulled her back by her collar, "Not so fast, Little Miss One Person Army! We have proof you were with Ichigo!"

"Lies and slander!"

The teacher pointed to her clip on the projection, "That's you! Right there! Tossing grown men like trash in the wind!"

"I was barely over the line," she declared with a huff.

Kagine-sensei turned to the group, "And instead of stopping Kuchiki and Kurosaki you just pointed and laughed!"

"I'm still not seeing the problem here," the brown skinned girl declared as she crossed her hands across her chest.

The man's face dropped into his hands as he screamed.

"I'm so sorry," Rukia sniffled.

Kagine-sensei faced the petite girl as she played him with her fake water works. Ichigo grabbed Shigeru by the wrist. She looked up at him as he motioned his head toward the window that the others were eyeing.

"All of this is because I couldn't stop Ichigo...I was the closest to Ichigo at the time. When he jumped in, I had to stop him…"

The group of boys and one girl quietly made their way to the open window.

"I even rose my voice, which isn't like me…"

Mizuiro and Keigo were successfully out the window. Chad was working on getting out along with Ichigo who was stepping on a stool to assist himself. He offered a hand to Shigeru to assist her. Ochi-sensei silently watched on. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop her wild students.

Rukia cried into her handkerchief, "But Ichigo just wouldn't listen!"

Kagine ran over to Rukia to comfort her, "It's alright! You didn't do anything wrong! It was all Kurosaki's fault, okay?"

"Yes… I don't care what happens to him just me," she sniffled.

Shigeru's mouth dropped, "Everyone is so shady today!"

Kagine turned around but the group had successfully escaped the room and ran for dear life.

"Hey, get back here you guys. If you run I'll suspend you," the P.E. teacher yelled from the window.

Shigeru cackled, "Not on your life! Freedom!"

"Shut up! You'll make things worse," Keigo whined.

Kagine-sensei sighed as he turned back into the room and yelled, "And Kuchiki disappeared as well!"

He ran over to the other teacher, "Ochi-sensei! You saw didn't you? Why didn't you stop them?!"

Ochi-sensei raised her hands in defeat and she laughed, "I didn't think such a fuss was necessary. It's just a television broadcast after all."

"Principal!"

The principal pointed to the project happily, "Kagine, can you make a copy of this? I want to brag to my grandchildren that my students were on tv!"

"Are you serious," the teacher yelled in defeat.

* * *

Everyone marched down the stairwell outside the building.

"We were able to clear an escape all thanks to the great Rukia," Keigo declared happily.

Ichigo frowned, "Oh _please,_ she was going to sell us out! Don't praise her!"

"It was because of Rukia's acting that you were able to escape," Tatsuki declared.

Shigeru slung an arm over her shoulder, "What's that I hear Ms. Traitor?"

Tatsuki laughed nervously, "You'll never let me live it down will you?"

"I'm not helping with the tournaments," Shigeru declared, giving Tatsuki a nuggy.

Tatsuki whined, "Come on!"

Orihime giggled at their antics.

Rukia interjected, "I was only acting. I would never sell out my friends, Ichigo."

He squinted his eyes at her, "Lair…"

They all laughed and continued on their way. Shigeru noticed Chad stop for a second as he stared up to a window on the third floor of the building. She followed his gaze but only saw a retreating form.

She patted him on the elbow as she stretched her neck to look at the taller boy's face, "Something wrong, Chad?"

He blinked at looked down at the darker girl. He patted her on the head, "No...I guess it was nothing."

She grinned and wrapped her arm around his, "Let's go then!"

His eyes widened as he was dragged away by the girl. He smiled softly as he was dragged away.

She glanced back at the window and smirked, "_So you're finally making your move, huh. Uryuu.."_

**Author's Note: I wanted to answer a question or two from the reviews I've gotten so far. Shigeru remembers all the details from the anime and manga, but the accuracy depended on if she really cares for what was happening, so sometimes she'll forget some minor details. But overall, yes, she is aware of future revelations about the characters like Ichigo's hollow, bankai's, etc etc. Isshin and the twins are aware that she can see spirits like Ichigo, and after seeing her during **_**Ghost Bust**_**'s live recording he's aware that she's a substitute soul reaper as well. Kisuke is a little suspicious of her ability to seemingly predict that future but isn't concerned about it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I'm excited to see that you're all enjoying the story so much. It makes me so happy! I took a day to plot out how I want the story to go all the way up to the The Thousand- Year Blood War, and I'm confident that I'll be able to update regularly. There are plenty of moments I'm looking forward to writing in the future! Enjoy!**

Chapter 4: It's Hollow Season!

Shigeru was sitting in the middle of her apartment for a change (she actually slept at home, unless it was the weekend when she'd sleep over at the Kurosaki residence). She decided to give the Kurosaki's a break from her for a few days, not wanting to be a complete moocher, and decided to study for the upcoming exams they had to take soon at school. Shigeru was never one for studying, not even in her previous universe. Honestly, she didn't even start to actually study for things until college. She just had an easier time remembering content, so never found the need. If she didn't know something she'd just leave it up to luck and bullshit.

She flipped through her math notes and sighed, "This is something I didn't miss one bit…"

As she stared at her practice problems she thought back on recent events. Don Kanonji somehow found out where Ichigo lived (Rukia) and wanted to hang out with the both of them, much to her embarrassment. She was not going to be seen anywhere in public with that medium, _especially_ with how he dressed. They could only ditch the man when a hollow appeared on Rukia's radar. The other two didn't notice the Quincy as they passed by him, while Shigeru pretended to not notice the boy. It was a matter of time before she would have to witness Ichigo and Uryuu's stupid rivalry, but she's looking forward to hunting down some hollows.

"_I wonder if this is the excitement Elmer Fudd felt when it was rabbit season,_" she mused to herself giggling as she tapped her pencil on the table.

A knock from her front door grabbed her attention. She called, "Who is it?"

"It's Tatsuki and Orihime," the voice of her friend called.

She ran to the door, opening it up for the two girls, "I wasn't expecting you guys. What brings you to my humble abode?"

"We need help studying," Orihime beamed, "and I brought snacks!"

"...They aren't, um, homemade are they," the brown haired girl asked nervously.

Shigeru, out of curiosity, tried some of Orihime's cooking. Let's just say it didn't settle well with her, and she basically has a stomach made of steel. Orihime felt bad, but at the same time was happy to see someone try her cooking. Shigeru unwillingly became a taste tester.

Tatsuki laughed, "Trust me, they aren't."

Shigeru laughed as she let the other girls into her apartment. They all settled as they began studying, chatting about classes, and what they plan on doing during summer break. Shigeru lied telling them she'd be visiting her aunt, but she knew where she'd really be during that time… After a couple of hours the girls decided to take a break.

"You're really smart, Shigeru! I think I'll do well on the exams thanks to you," Orihime chimed leaning on the brown girl's shoulders.

Shigeru petted the busty girl's head, "Orihime you'll do great because of you. Not me. You're wayyy smart. I don't know why you don't show it!"

Tatsuki leaned her chin against the table and sighed, "I keep telling her that!"

Orihime fiddled with her fingers, "It's just...I don't know…"

"Have more confidence in yourself. It's a hard thing to do, but when time you'll feel like nothing can stop you," Shigeru smiled hugging the girl by the shoulder.

Orihime smiled gently, "You're so kind, Shigeru. Thank you!"

Right then the orange haired girl's stomach gave off a whale-like sound. Orihime's face grew red with embarrassment. Shigeru and Tatsuki blinked before they erupted into laughter.

Shigeru stood from the table and rolled up her sleeves, "I'll make us something to eat!"

After eating and studying a little bit more the other girls decided to go back to their respective homes. She decided to walk the girls halfway to their destination, not wanting the girls to run into any hollows. Shigeru noticed the increase in her friends spiritual capabilities awhile ago.

"_Soon they'll be able to protect themselves_," she thought as she walked beside the girls.

"You know...you didn't have to walk with us," Tatsuki said, breaking the taller girls' thoughts.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I've been stuck in the house all day. I needed the fresh air anyway."

"It is a very peaceful night... so quiet," Orihime hummed as she gazed at the night sky.

Shigeru looked up at the starry sky as well. She wasn't used to seeing such stars so clearly. In her original universe she lived on the southside of Chicago. The only constellation she could she clearly right above her childhood home was the Little Dipper, and in college Orion was as clear as ever. Here in Karakura it was different. Everything was so bright and beautiful. She loved it.

Tatsuki stopped her strides and smiled at Shigeru, "Alright, we've got it from here! See you tomorrow!"

Shigeru waved at the girl before making her way back to her place. She sensed a hollow as she closed in on her building, but before she could even pull out her soul candy, it's presence vanished.

"_Uryuu, you're making my life easier. I'm sleeping tonight_," she breathed through her nose.

* * *

The next day the kids spent all day taking exams, and Shigeru was over the whole thing. It was time for lunch. Shigeru was looking through her things for her lunch as she waited for Ichigo.

Keigo threw his pencil in the air, "We're done! And I'm dying!"

"Quit worrying! Exams don't hold a lot of meaning in one's life," the orange haired boy shrugged his shoulders.

Keigo jumped the boy with a hug, "Well said, Ichigo! Let's share the pain of being morons!"

Shigeru laughed at Keigo, "You might be alone in that category, buddy."

"What do you mean," Keigo asked as he released the other boy.

Mizuiro pulled out a paper, "Look these are Ichigo's mid-term standings."

Keigo snatched the paper from the blue haired boy, "C'mon only the top 50 are on this. No way Ichigo is…"

His eyes popped out of his head as he saw where Ichigo was placed. He turned to the boy almost mortified.

"Eighteen! You're ranked eighteen," he stuttered.

Shigeru laughed, "Why is that so shocking? There has to be some form of knowledge in that big head of his!"

"What was that about my head," Ichigo growled pulling Shigeru in a headlock.

She just laughed louder.

"Out of 323 students! You ranked 18, but...but how?," Keigo continued his shocked rant.

The orange-haired teen looked up, "I don't do clubs, so I study at home."

Shigeru still in a headlock nodded her head, "Yep! He helps me with math!"

Keigo animatedly cried, "These...These fiends! Damn Nerds!"

Shigeru got out of Ichigo's hold so she could punch the frantic boy in the head, "For your information I study when I need to, and my test scores have always been high my whole life!"

"But all you do is sleep in class, and doodle on your notebook. How would I know that you're actually smart," Keigo whined.

She gasped, "I'm a little offended by that!"

Keigo tried to dodge another punch to the head, "Okay! I'm sorry, Shigeru! But you," he pointed to Ichigo, "I still can't believe!"

Ichigo placed a hand on his neck, "Give me a break! I get enough problems because of my hair, even though I've proven to the instructors that it's natural. I'm short-tempered, and upper-classmen pick fights with me, I can't help but fight back. Instructors falsely accuse me, I rebel, and that only gives them a reason to say I have a bad attitude, so they keep their eyes peeled to me. I'm weary of that stuff, so I raised my grade."

Shigeru hummed as she thought that over. She was kind of the opposite when she was in school. She only really went against a teacher when they were disrespectful to the students while expecting the students to give them the utmost respect just because they ruled over their grades. Shigeru only gave respect when respect was due. She didn't care about age, race, or any of that. Respect was _earned_ not given.

She understood Ichigo's wariness. She'd had quite a few incidents in her past where she was kicked out of classes for outsmarting snobby teachers, much to their embarrassment. One particular incident a teacher claimed she didn't turn in a mid-term paper just so she could fail her, but Shigeru kept all her receipts! That teacher only further made a fool of herself. Her aversion to math had to due with her Calculus teacher making her a victim of color-ism, which left a sour taste in her mouth. She hated teachers that picked on students for such petty reasons.

"Seems like a lot of trouble...even for you," Mizuiro said sympathetically.

Ichigo looked out the window, "I'm used to it…"

Shigeru hopped on the boys back, "Enough of this! It's bringing down the mood!"

"Get off! People might see your underwear or something!"

"I've got short on. We're fineee."

"So unladylike!"

"I strive to be that!"

Mizuiro stepped up to the two, "By the way have you seen Rukia today?"

"Why are you asking me," Ichigo asked as he tucked his arms under Shigeru's legs.

The boy smiled, "Well, you guys are always together."

"How would I know! Ever since the tv incident people keep giving me weird looks, so I've been avoiding her," Ichigo complained.

Shigeru laughed, "I like the attention! I always wonder when someone will have the balls to approach me!"

Mizuiro smiled nervously, "Shigeru, you can be a little scary."

"What? I'm a sweetheart," she gasped.

"Who told you that," Ichigo asked plainly.

Shigeru tightly wrapped her legs around his body before assaulting him with a double-noggy.

Rukia came rushing down the hall and swooped both substitute shinigami up as she sprinted down the hall.

"Shigeru, Ichigo, come with me for a sec!"

"Hey let go! Rumors about us are already spreading, ya know!"

"Ignore them then, Strawberry!"

"Hollow! Complain later!"

"Is it really here this time?!"

"Why do I have to come?"

"Cause we're in this together," the irate boy barked.

They passed by Uryuu in the hall. Ichigo bumped into his shoulder.

"Sorry," he shot the apology toward the boy.

Shigeru turned to meet the Quincy's eyes as he brushed off his shoulder. He turned to continue down the hall.

"I really won't forgive you if there isn't one this time," he yelled.

Rukia finally had enough, "Oh shut up! I get it!"

The hollow's presence disappeared and Shigeru stopped running, "It's gone…"

The other two stopped and looked at Shigeru as she stuck her head out of the window. She closed her eyes to concentrate to pinpoint where the hollow was about a few minutes ago. It was completely gone. She then concentrated on Uryuu's reiatsu. He was on the roof facing the direction the hollow should have been in.

She opened her eyes, "_He works fast…_"

"Shigeru?"

She turned to the other two and sighed, "Like I said, it's gone. I'm going to go back to eat my lunch."

* * *

_After school_

The Idiot-Shinigami-Trio made their way to Ichigo's.

"_Why? Why did I have to get dragged along on three more false alarms,_" she grumbled.

Ichigo slung his arm over her shoulder, "So what has this adopted little sister of mine been up to?"

"I'm _older _than you," she grumbled for the un-tempted time.

Ichigo grinned, "But I'm taller."

"That's not how that works," she slapped the boy upside the head.

Ichigo flinched before flicking the girl on the forehead, "That hurt!"

"Why're being so annoying right now," she frowned, shrugging his arm off her shoulder.

Rukia gave Shigeru a sly smile, "He missed you. How cute!"

Ichigo blushed and huffed, "Stop making things up, Rukia! I'm just checking on her!"

"Aw, so you _did_ miss me," Shigeru mirrored the same expression as Rukia.

Ichigo shouted, "I see you everyday! Why would I miss you?"

Shigeru patted the boy on his head, "There's no need to deny it! I've been neglecting my favorite orange haired idiot! Don't worry since exams are over I'll be over again!"

"I didn't miss you," Ichigo stomped ahead of the group.

Shigeru and Rukia laughed.

"Why is he in denial," Shigeru laughed.

Rukia smiled, "He has a so-called image he tries to keep at all time."

"You mean he's wannabe cool-angsty-boy routine? Doesn't he know, _we_ know he's nothing but a big softy," Shigeru laughed.

Rukia crossed her arms, "Boys are weird."

"More like hormonal idiots," the taller girl smirked.

"I hear ya!"

Later that night Rukia got another alert. The three headed to the location, but again there was not a hollow in sight. Ichigo was beyond frustrated.

"No hollow! Again!," he yelled at the shorter woman.

Rukia dragged his body from a corner, "Shut up, and get in your body!"

"Why didn't you bring Kon? People might think you're a dead body one day," Shigeru sighed as she re-entered her body.

"Shut up, Shigeru! This is not the time," Ichigo yelled, grabbing his limp body.

Shigeru scoffed as she played with her hair, "It'll be a problem when you're being cut up in a morgue."

He just frowned at that before turning to Rukia as he entered his body, "You better do something about this?"

"Are you saying this is my fault? I just pass on orders as I receive them," Rukia shouted.

Shigeru sensed someone approaching them, "Hey, guys…"

"So hurry up and fix it," Ichigo yelled back.

"Fighting among friends? What a disgrace," a voice called from behind them.

Rukia and Ichigo flinched at the sound of Uryuu's appearance. He stood at the corner in his white Quincy uniform. He stepped closer to the group.

"Good evening. Kurosaki, Kuchiki, and...Kuroi. I didn't expect to see you," the glasses wearing boy greeted but his eyes lingered on Shigeru's form.

She smiled and waved at him, "Hi!"

Ichigo stepped in front of Shigeru and frowned at the white clad teen, "Who are you? What's with the get-up? How do you know our nam-"

"Kurosaki, you can see spirits correct," Uryuu cut him off.

Ichigo's eyes widened and he tried to lie, "What are you talking about? Such things can't be seen-"

Shigeru sensed a hollow.

"A new hollow has appeared," Uryuu cut the boy off yet again.

Rukia's phone started beeping much to her shock, "It's..It's really here!"

"Which way," Ichigo asked frantically.

Shigeru turned her head in the direction of the hollow and crossed her arms. She could see it flickering in and out of sight.

Uryuu turned his back on the group as he pointed in the direction she was looking, "That way."

The two others turned to the Quincy as he glared over his shoulder at them, "You're not at that level of understanding, and yet you call yourself a shinigami?"

He noticed that Shigeru had already noticed the hollow before he directed Ichigo, "_At least she has a reasonable amount of skill."_

Uryuu's cross charm on his bracelet jingled as a reiatsu bow was generated from it. Shigeru's eyes sparkled as she looked at the formation.

"_That's so cool," _she beamed.

He generated an arrow as he dropped to a knee firing it at the hollow destroying it completely from existence.

Shigeru clapped her hand, "Whoa! Awesome!"

Rukia stared at her phone as the signal stopped, "It's...the signal disappeared!"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he looked back to the other boy, "What the hell are you?"

Uryuu lowered his bow as he stood up straight.

"Uryuu Ishida, a Quincy…"

He turned to face the group once again.

"And I hate shinigami."

"What," Ichigo asked in shock.

Uryuu glared at the other boy, "Don't you get it? I'm saying that I hate you…"

Shigeru pointed to herself and asked, "What about me?"

Uryuu considered it for a second and asked, "Are you a shinigami, Kuroi?"

"Hmm, sort of but I consider myself to be human of course," she mused as she put a finger to her lower lip.

He adjusted his glasses, "Then I'm sorry to say I hate you as well if you associate with the shinigami."

"Bummer," she pouted.

* * *

The day the final exam test scores were posted was interesting, to say the least. Shigeru wasn't used to seeing everyone's scores, things like that would have made her nervous if she was an actual student like them. She wouldn't like the pressure, but luckily she didn't care for this kind of stuff now. Everyone gathered in the hallway trying to see where they were placed.

Tatsuki and Shigeru patted Orihime on the head.

"Third place! As usual you did great," Tatsuki praised.

Orihime giggled happy with the praises.

"Wow, Orihime is _that_ smart," Michiru beamed.

Shigeru whistled, "See! I told you you're so smart! You should be tutoring me!"

Tatsuki huffed and pointed to Shigeru's name, "Oh please! You don't even need tutoring! You're fourth place!"

"Math, I tell you! It just won't cooperate with me," Shigeru crossed her arms.

Chizuru hugged Orihime from behind patting her on the head, "Looks like Ryo got 2nd! She's entering the nationals for her track team too. I wonder how she does it."

Michiru beamed, "Impressive!"

Tatsuki smirked, "I'm entering nationals too!"

The girls turned to Tatsuki, "What?"

Tatsuki shrugged, "Didn't I tell you guys? I won the competition in May. The team is great this year. The boys are going too. After all, I, the "girl who will win 3 consecutive championships" has joined."

She threw her arm over Shigeru and pulled her close, "Not to mention, we've got Miss One-Person-Army helping us with conditioning!"

"I told you guys to stop calling me that. It was one time," Shigeru whined.

The boys walked up to the rankings. Keigo and Mizuiro examined the rankings.

Keigo looked the rankings up and down, "Once again, it seems like no traitors who ranked in the top 50 are among us!"

"It's as you say, captain," Mizurio smiled.

They stopped Ichigo's rank: 23.

Keigo covered Mizuiro's eyes, "Don't look, Comrade Kojima!"

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched at the stupidity of the two.

"We can't be seen with a nerd like you, Ichigo! We're not inviting you to playtime anymore," Keigo stuck his tongue out at the boy.

Chad looked at the rankings in silence as Keigo bounced over to him.

"Right, Chad? Let's hang out," the brown haired girl beamed.

"Hmm," the taller boy pointed to his ranking.

They stared at the number 11.

Keigo and Mizuiro yelled in terror. Shigeru took off her slippers and tossed them at their faces.

"Shut up, dumb-asses," she growled.

The two ran away in tears. The others stayed on too stunned to move, as Shigeru gathered her slippers.

Ichigo crossed his arms deep in thought. He was reflecting on the things Uryuu said to him the night before. Shigeru walked over to him.

"What's with the scowl? It's more scowl-ly than usual," she asked.

Ichigo frowned, "What was his name again? Ishida...uh Willy, no that's not it…"

"This idiot," she shook her head.

He continues, "Wally...Not that's not it. I'll never come up with it at this point."

Shigeru slapped the boy over the head as Orihime appeared by them, "What about Uryuu Ishida?"

"Ouch! Shigeru, if you keep hitting me like that I'll lose brain cells or something," he yelled.

Shigeru crossed her arms, "It's not like you use the ones you have."

Ichigo was going to yell at the brown haired girl, but suddenly turned to Orihime.

"You know Ishida," he asked.

Orihime smiled, "I know about him...he's in our class after all."

Ichigo eyes popped open, "What?"

Orihime pointed to the rankings, "See look! Uryuu Ishida!"

Ichigo's face darkened, "First place…"

Shigeru ran a hand down her face, "Ichigo, how the hell don't you know your classmates names? I've just got here and I learned his name, like, day two!"

Tatsuki laughed, "It's no use, guys. This guy can't recall people's names or faces at all. He probably still doesn't know half the class."

"Shut up," Ichigo grumbled.

Shigeru pointed at the boy, "No! You, shut up! That's just pitiful!"

"That's not my fault! I'm just not good with names!"

"Pay attention during attendance then!"

"Who does that?"

Orihime laughed shyly, "Well, Uryuu is pretty quiet and doesn't stand out like your group, so he might be hard to remember…"

"You guys seem close, Orihime," Ichigo inquired.

Orihime shook her head, "Oh no, we're just in the same sewing club."

"Sewing club," he yelled in shock.

Shigeru smirked, "Yes, some men _can_ sew, Ichigo. It comes in handy."

"I gotta see this," Ichigo smirked at Orihime and Shigeru.

The three peeked around the corner of their classroom. They spotted Uryuu.

"You're right...he's in our class," he mumbled.

"See," Orihime whispered excitedly.

"You need to be more observant, Ichigo," Shigeru whispered harshly.

Uryuu stood up from his seat, but Michiru walked up to him with a torn stuffed bear.

"Excuse me, Uryuu? Do you mind fixing this for me," the girl asked shyly.

Orihime hopped on her toes in anticipation, "Oh! Oh! Look! We get to see his skills at work!"

Uryuu pulled out a small sewing kit and majestically fixed the arm of the stuffed animal. Shigeru sweat-dropped at the dramatics.

"_He's so extra,_" she tried not to laugh.

Michiru thanked the bespectacled boy.

He adjusted his glasses while he coldly said, "No need to thank me. Actually, don't talk to me again."

Michiru dejectedly apologized for the trouble before walking away. Shigeru blinked at how the boy treated their sweet classmate.

Orihime sighed, "I wonder why he'd say something so mean after doing something so nice."

Shigeru smirked, "_Tsundere!_"

The two looked at her and blinked.

"Oh, sorry did I say that out loud," she giggled sheepishly.

Orihime turned to face Ichigo, "Did something happen between you and Uryuu?"

"Nothing big...it's no big deal," he said as his gaze stayed focused on the Quincy.

Orihime smiled gently, "Okay…"

Shigeru and Ichigo decided to tail Uryuu as they left school. Shigeru was careful to make her reiatsu as non-existent as possible. She wanted to see if she could make her presence vanish to the point that even skilled individuals like Uryuu couldn't find her. She thought that it would come in handy when they had to enter the Soul Society to save Rukia, and that was going to be sooner than later. Shigeru closed her eyes and took long deep breaths. She focused on her large amount of reiatsu, imagining it as a giant circle around her. She imagined it getting smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than a speck.

She opened her eyes, _"I hope that does the treat. I'm not really sure if that's how to mask one's reiatsu but it should work…" _

As they followed the boy up some stairs Uryuu stopped his stride, "How long do you intend to follow me, Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo stepped around the corner, "Damn, you found me out. When did you notice?"

"When you were spying on me in the classroom with Inoue and Kuroi," Uryuu watched the boy from over his shoulder.

Ichigo clapped as he added as much sarcasm as he could possibly muster, "Ohh, that's really something!"

"It's due to your inability to restrain your reiatsu. Even a monkey would be able to sense you," Uryuu coldly replied.

Shigeru had to cover her mouth so she wouldn't alert the boy of her presence, but she was struggling not to laugh.

"_Burn!_"

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched with irritation as he stopped clapping.

"What did you say," he gritted.

Uryuu seemed unbothered by the orange-haired teens growing annoyance.

"You seem to lack the capability to sense those with high levels of spiritual pressure. The evidence is...that you didn't notice my existence until today," Uryuu mocked as he turned to finally face the boy head on.

Shigeru giggled out loud. Uryuu flinched as she turned the corner leaning an arm against Ichigo's shoulder.

"It's not his fault that he's a slower learner, Uryuu. And a shitty classmate," she grinned at the boy.

Uryuu sharpened his gaze, "How long have you been here, Shigeru Kuroi?"

Shigeru grinned, "I've been walking with Ichigo the entire time we were following you."

"How is it that I couldn't sense you're reiatsu? I still can't," Uryuu asked the girl curiously.

She smirked as she took a couple of steps toward the Quincy as she pointed a thumb in Ichigo's direction, "Well, unlike this idiot. I've been aware of you since I got here. I remember faces―"

"Well, my bad for not being good with face," Ichigo yelled.

She continued, "And I'm just more talented!"

"I disagree with that," Ichigo yelled.

Uryuu quietly replied, "That's not it…"

He looked at Ichigo as he continued, "Since I entered this school I noticed that you're reiatsu was unusually high, how in mid-May when you acquired the powers of a shinigami, and Rukia Kuchiki's true identity…"

Ichigo was at a loss for words. Uryuu turned his attention back to Shigeru, who was giving him a knowing smile.

"But you, Shigeru Kuroi, are somewhat of a mystery," he said as he adjusted his glasses.

Her grin grew, "Then I'm doing something right."

Uryuu placed a hand in his pocket as white ribbons sprang from the ground surrounding the three.

"What the hell..," Ichigo gasped.

Uryuu stepped closer to the other two as he explained, "Yes, it's Reiraku. Something that compresses and visualizes the reiatsu in the area. Only upper-level shinigami can visualize and touch them, but you should know that as a shinigami…"

Shigeru gazed at the ribbons in front of her, all of them white except for two. Ichigo's red ribbon, yet to be revealed to him, and hers. Hers was strange. It was purple with a black outline. She reached for it as Uryuu snatched Ichigo's.

"However, did you know that shinigami's reiraku is a different color? It's red," he said as he ripped a piece of Ichigo's reiraku, letting it flutter to the ground.

He then turned his attention to Shigeru's and squinted his eyes as he gently grabbed her reiraku, "Strange...I've never seen a reiraku colored like this."

"Well it's my first time seeing it myself, so I don't know what to tell you," she said as she met his suspicious eyes.

Uryuu released her spirit ribbon before scrutinizing her, "Just what are you, Shigeru Kuroi?"

She gave him her toothy grin, "That's the million dollar question!"

Shigeru winked at the boy as she bopped his nose with her index finger.

He took a step back and glared at the two, more so Ichigo than Shigeru, and declared, "I am a Quincy, one with the power to kill hollows."

He turned to face Ichigo.

"Won't you fight me, Ichigo Kurosaki? Between a shinigami such as you, and a Quincy such a I, which one would surpass the other. I'll show you that shinigami are unnecessary in this world," Uryuu declared.

Ichigo glared at the boy, "Look here―"

"Wait, I want to join in on this wager," Shigeru beamed, hopping up and down.

Uryuu trampled on the idea, "No. I don't want you involved."

"You're a rude ass kid, you know that," Shigeru pouted.

Uryuu adjusted his glasses and stuttered, "I wanted the odds to be even against men―"

"Ohhh, so now it's because I'm a girl that I can't join in," she teased the boy.

Ichigo jumped in, "Let this be a battle between men! So stay out of it, Shigeru!"

"Oh _hell_ no! I've been itching for some action, so I. WANT. IN," she stomped.

The boys flinched away from her as the girl had her mini tantrum.

Ichigo turned to Uryuu and whispered harshly, "You might want to let her in on this otherwise _we_ might be the next victims!"

"The odds would be rather unbalanced. It's 2-against-1 as is," Uryuu tried to reason with the girl.

She frowned, crossing her arms, "Then I won't fight for the shinigami team."

"What? But you're a shinigami," Ichigo shouted at the girl.

Uryuu took a moment to consider and asked, "Then what team do you plan on fighting for?"

A grin spread across her face, "I'm repping team Girls-Are-Better!"

Ichigo pulled the girl into a headlock, "You're an idiot!"

"And I'm tired of all the guys around here either not letting me join in on fights, or trying to protect me just because I'm a girl! You do it the most, Ichigo," Shigeru yelled as she flipped the boy off of her.

"Gah!"

Shigeru pointed at Uryuu, "I'm joining in whether you agree or not, so let's get this show on the road!"

"This is ridiculous," Ichigo yelled at the two. He pointed to Shigeru, "You're just always ridiculous―"

"Am not!"

He pointed to Uryuu, "But you! Why do I have to compete against you? I don't know what grudge you have against shinigami, but it has nothing to do with me!"

Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest before he turned away from the other two.

"How surprising, so you're running away," Uryuu asked.

Ichigo scoffed, "I won't be provoked. I'm just saying that you're no match for me!"

"Sounds like running away to me," Shigeru poked the boy in the arm.

He swatted her hand away much to her amusement.

Uryuu shrugged his shoulders, " Oh I see...I remember now."

That grabbed Ichigo's attention as he turned to face the glasses wearing boy.

"You're a shinigami whose abilities were granted to you by Rukia Kuchiki. In other words, you're just a _substitute _shinigami. Without her permission...you can't even lift a finger," Uryuu mocked as he adjusted his glasses.

The vein on Ichigo's temple throbbed angrily, "What'd you just say…?"

Shigeru gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth to stop her laughter, "_Damn, Uryuu! You ain't have to do him like that! But this might be just the right motivation..."_

She continued to grin with her hand coyly placed over her face. She faced Ichigo. It was time to play the instigator.

"_Wow_, you're just going to let him talk to you like that? Are you Rukia's bitch," she smirked at the ticking time bomb.

Ichigo grinned, "Okay...let's give this competition thing a shot."

He fished Kon out of his shirt pocket. Shigeru fist pumped in the air as she grabbed her soul candy out of her pocket. Ichigo swallowed Kon, and emerged from his body. Shigeru popped the gikon into her mouth. She emerged from her body. Shigeru pulled her elbow length finger-less gloves up a little before pulling her hair into a ponytail on top her head. She was going to be getting serious about this hollow hunt.

"Kon, watch the match from here," Ichigo ordered before he rolled up the sleeve to his robe, "Watch as I wipe the floor with this guy!"

Shigeru turned to her gikon and pointed at it, "Stay with Kon, and make sure he doesn't do anything weird to my body."

"Don't you trust me, Shigeru," Kon whined.

"Not at all!"

Ichigo turned to face the bespectacled teen, "Now hurry up and explain the rules!"

Uryuu pulled out something about the size of a quarter maybe a little bigger, just thicker, "We'll begin the battle with this."

"What is it," Ichigo stared at the little trinket dumbfounded.

Shigeru hummed, "It's hollow bait, right?"

"Wait, wrong," Ichigo turned to the girl before turning back to the other boy.

Uryuu smirked at Shigeru, "Correct, Kuroi. If I crush and scatter this, hollows will gather in this town. The one who kills the most of the gathered hollow within 24 hrs wins...easy enough right?"

"Easy-peasy," Shigeru nodded in agreement.

Ichigo, however, wasn't on board. He growled, "What's your problem? You're going to endanger the people in this town for the sake of this fight!? Who do you think you are?"

"Keep your morality to yourself," Uryuu glared as he destroyed the bait.

It scattered in the wind much to Ichigo's shock.

Uryuu with determination in his eyes yelled, "Worrying about others is unnecessary! I will kill the gathered hollows without a single survivor!" he glared at Ichigo, "as for you, if you have the confidence to protect people from hollows then you should be able to take on this challenge!"

Shigeru clapped her hands gathering the boys' attention, " I couldn't agree better myself! Let's start! They're already gathering…"

She turned to glare at the hollows already breaking their way into their world. Uryuu dashed off into a random direction bow materialized. Right when she was about to take off Ichigo pulled her back.

"Wait! Shigeru, you seriously can't be going along with this," he yelled.

She shrugged, "It's hunting season."

"This isn't a joke! People could get hurt," Ichigo yelled as he yanked the girl closer to him.

She sighed as she pulled her arm from his grip. As she placed a hand on his shoulder she smiled.

"Listen Ichigo, everything will be fine. Do you really think I would agree to something if I didn't think the three of us could handle it," she asked looking him in the eyes, "just think of it as some much needed training!"

Ichigo sighed as he released the girl, "Are you sure about this?"

"Aren't I always!"

"That's what makes me nervous."

"What's that supposed to mean, you Strawberry head!"

Ichigo punched her in the shoulder, "Don't start!"

She rubbed her arm as she laughed. He stared at the girl deep in thought.

"What," she asked.

He frowned, "Why was your reiraku a different color than a shinigami's? It was black and purple…"

Shigeru hummed as gazed at the sky, "I don't know…"

"Shigeru…"

She hopped into the air, "None of that is important right now! I'm sure Uryuu has raked up several points by now."

She heard the boy call out to her as a hollow appeared before her. Shigeru enhanced her body, before punching the hollow. Her fist went through its mask as anger cracks spread through its face. She grinned at the orange hair teen on the ground.

"Oh and just because the hollow is huge doesn't mean it's worth more points," she called before flying off.

She sensed that Ichigo was chasing after Uryuu, probably to tell him to drive the hollows back. Shigeru understood the boys' worries and she too was a little nervous for Karin and Yuzu's sake… However, the girls were in good hands. A group of hollows surrounded her.

She grinned, "Why hello there beasties!"

They attacked her from all sides. Shigeru's grin widened as she dodged and evaded their attacks. She kicked one of the monsters out of the way as she pulled her white blade from its sheath, slashing away at the hollows as they attacked her. A hollow appeared above her mouth wide ready to engulf her. She dropped to her back as her leg striking swiftly cracked its mask before it vanished.

"This is so much fun. I guess I'm taking the ones in the sky," she huffed.

She took her black blade from its sheath. She raised both her blades as she got into a fighting stance. More hollows converged to her, snapping their teeth at her as they growled and snarled.

Her grin manic and her eyes gleamed with joy, "Come on, you bastards!"

The hollows attacked.

* * *

24...25...26...27…

Another hollow vanished as Shigeru cut it down. She paused for a moment looking over her surroundings. There were no more in this particular area. She landed on the ground to catch her breath.

"Luckily, I don't have asthma in this universe," she huffed.

She was finding it easier to keep up the strength enhancing with her reiatsu. She usually didn't keep it up for prolonged times because she didn't know her limitations just yet. She decided that today was going to be the test run and hollow hunting provided her some great practice. She gazed up to the sky as she sensed the increasing number of hollows. While she was fighting Orihime and Chad had their awakenings. Kisuke should be gathering them up soon. She was glad that they were alright.

"Good...everything is coming together," she mumbled.

Three hollows appeared above her. She back flipped out of the way, landing in a handstand. She spun on her hand as she kicked the hollows away from her with enough force to send them flying. She managed to crack the mask of one of them. Hopping back to her feet she stabbed the other two simultaneously.

"And that makes 30," she grinned.

She pinpointed where Uryuu and Ichigo were. Ichigo was on his way to where Uryuu was.

"_Oh, Rukia's there too..she's getting weaker_," she thought as she sped in the direction of the others.

She spotted Uryuu talking to Rukia and Kon. She crash landed to the ground as Ichigo stomped over to the glasses wearing youth.

"Finally found you, Uryuu…!"

"Kurosaki…"

"Shigeru," she chimed.

Rukia shook her head at the girls' antics. Ichigo ignored his surrogate sister and kept his attention set on the Quincy before him.

"To be honest, I really want to skip to the part where I bring you to tears but before that…" he stomped over to Kon.

He started choking the Mod-Soul and yelling at him. Shigeru and Uryuu blinked at the sight before them as Rukia joined in on the argument.

"Give it a rest! I'm an enemy! This isn't the time to be fighting amongst yourself," Uryuu shouted.

They ignored him and kept bantering.

He tried again, "Umm.."

Shigeru smirked at the fools until Uryuu finally snapped pulling out his bow with an arrow aimed at the group.

"Shut up, Ichigo Kurosaki! I'm your opponent―"

He accidentally released the arrow, "Oh no―"

The arrows shot toward the substitute shinigami. Ichigo turned, swiftly blocking the arrow with his blade.

Shigeru punched the Quincy in the back of his head. His bow vanished.

He cradled the back of his head and stuttered, "Shi-Shigeru! Why did you hit me?!"

"Because you're just as reckless as that idiot over there," she pointed to her fellow substitute shinigami.

Ichigo yelled, "I'm not reckless!"

"Ichigo, sensible people are talking," she frowned at the boy.

The boy frowned before pointing to Uryuu, "So tell me how many hollows you defeated with all this crap! We're going to settle this! You and me!"

Uryuu was a little shunned by the boys outburst. Shigeru flinched as she sensed something large coming. The hairs on the back of her neck started to stand. It was far, but slowly approaching the World of the Living.

Shigeru sighed as she gripped her swords, "I know I'm the last person to say this ,but can we _please focus_!"

The group turned to face her as she pointed to the sky, "Something isn't right! That little bit of bait that Uryuu had should _not_ be attracting this many hollows. Something is coming. Something big!"

They watched as the cracks in the sky started to gather into one spot. Uryuu's head snapped to the side.

"Wait. I'm afraid that's not all," he said grimly, "Look! The hollows are heading right for that point."

Everyone's eyes widened as the witnesses the hollows from throughout the city heading their way. They were heading into the giant garganta forming in the sky. Uryuu pulled out his bow and started shooting at the approaching hollows.

"Quit it, Uryuu! There are too many! After we think of a strategy―," Ichigo yelled.

"What are you afraid of, Kurosaki," Quincy questioned calmly as he shot down another hollow.

Shigeru took to the skies again and started slashing away, "Ichigo, we don't have the time for that! Just start killing these things!"

She spun about like a tornado slicing down as many hollows as she could.

Uryuu ran forth, "I will win this fight. Over here, you hollows! The Last Quincy, Uryuu Ishida is your opponent!"

Uryuu and Shigeru headed toward the nearby park taking down hollows. Uryuu's fingers were bleeding from the amount of arrows he was shooting, while Shigeru's body was beginning to feel some soreness. Her muscles were beginning to scream from the strain, but she pushed through it. She ran on top of the head of the hollows striking through them as she jumped from one to another. Uryuu was surrounded by a large number of hollows. As she made her way to help she heard an oh too familiar yell.

"Uryuu! Shigeru!"

She giggled as the bodies of hollows went flying about as the boy swatted them like flies. He stood on a mountain of corpses as he yelled down, "Uryuu! I heard your "reason for fighting.""

Uryuu stared up to the boy expressionless as Ichigo went on a rant about right or wrong of ancient history. Shigeru bounced over the bodies of slowly disintegrating hollows to get closer to the two.

"Old news."

Ichigo stopped his rant and blinked.

"I don't care about some ancient feud. I only ever heard about it from my teacher. To me that's just an old tale," he said as he pushed his glasses up.

Shigeru giggled, "Uryuu we need to get you some new glasses! They shouldn't be slipping so much. Have you considered contacts?"

"No I haven't…," he replied to the girl as he shot down a hollow they tried to attack him from behind.

He turned to face Ichigo, "Who would use that as a reason to hate you shinigami. When I first heard about it, I actually agreed with the shinigami...until…my teacher died before my eye."

Shigeru frowned as he went on to explain why he hated the shinigami. Uryuu had a valid reason to hate the shinigami. Not only were they not doing their jobs properly, but his grandfather's life was lost because of it. Because of the prejudice that shinigami have toward anyone that isn't like them. He was only a small boy who had to witness the death of his beloved family member. She could see that he was getting emotional as he recalled the events. Shigeru could understand his anger.

It was when Uryuu declared that he didn't want their help in this fight so that he could prove his strength something in her snapped. Ichigo and Shigeru charged the boy, kicking him in the back of his head.

"Your story is too long!"

"Of course we're going to help you!"

Uryuu went head first into an upcoming hollow's mask, "W-What are you doing?!"

"Shut up," Ichigo yelled as he kicked him again, "Your story was so long that I forgot the first half! Your teacher's greatest wish wasn't to prove to the shinigami that Quincy's were better, but in fact, for Quincy's to work alongside the shinigami!"

Shigeru grabbed Uryuu by the front of his shirt as she interjected, "Exactly, so if you aren't going to cooperate with us_ now_ then _when_?"

She pushed the boy away as she went to stand next to her fellow shinigami as he smiled, "So why not try it out against a large group of enemies?"

The three stood back to back as they faced off against the group of hollows that surrounded them. Shigeru rolled her eyes as the boys started to argue yet again. Uryuu turned his back on the hollows behind him. Ichigo used Quincy's shoulder to lift himself in the air to slice the hollow.

"You shouldn't turn your back on the enemy," Ichigo smirked.

Shigeru laughed as she cut down another hollow, "Oh, you're one to talk! You do that literally every battle!"

"Can't you just let me have a cool moment," he complained.

She smirked, "Sure! When you actually become cool!"

"You two sure do argue a lot," Uryuu said as he shot down another hollow.

Shigeru smiled at the boy, "Awww, teamwork makes the dream work!"

Ichigo explained to Uryuu that he's fighting to prevent more people from being sad by the loss of loved ones like his family and like Uryuu. Uryuu listened to the teen earnestly. Shigeru just kept slicing and slashing at the oncoming monsters.

Ichigo declared, "I want to protect the people in front of me!"

"_...Only it's not always that easy, Ichigo. You'll learn that soon,_" she thought solemnly as she kicked her foot through a hollow's mask.

"Can you two stop talking and start killing some of these hollows! Damn! I'm doing all the work here!"

The two got the message and started cutting down the hollows, but there was no end in sight. Shigeru paused as she sensed the giant presence she felt earlier stronger than ever. She glanced at the hollows that stopped attacking. She looked up at the cracking sky, as a pair of giant white hands slowly tore open the sky revealing a humongous hollow mask with a pointed nose. It stared down into the town.

Shigeru glared at the enormous hollow, "_Menos Grande…"_

"What is that thing? It's enormous! Is it a hollow," Ichigo gasped.

Uryuu lowered his bow for a moment, "How would I know? What do we do now? We can't fight that thing while fighting the surrounding hollows!"

"Shut up! In any case, that's all we can do," Ichigo yelled back.

The boys began to yell at each other again. Shigeru sighed. She was tired and their constant arguing was giving her a headache.

"Where's that damn shopkeeper," she grumbled.

A hand landed on her head. She jumped away swords raised ready to strike, but she lowered them and smirked.

"You called," Kisuke smirked.

Little Jinta, Ururu, and Tessai behind him, weapons in tow. Ururu lifted up her gun...canon? She let off round after round at the hollows in front of the boys. They turned to face them.

Ururu meekly bowed her head, "Hel...Hello."

"Ichigo! We've come to the rescue," Kisuke waved his fan.

Ichigo blinked, "Mr. Hat-and-Clogs?!"

Shigeru walked over to lean against the teen, "I'm ready to go home. I lost count of the hollows I've destroyed!"

Jinta, Ururu, and Tessai went to work dispatching the hollows, quite brutally she might add. The two boys looked on with wonder.

"They're so strong," Uryuu said stunned.

Ichigo turned to Kisuke, "Mr. Hat-and-Clogs, why're you here? You always seem to appear wherever I go…"

Kisuke held his white fan away from his face as he smiled cryptically, "I just told you...We've come to the rescue!"

The teens stood at attention as he continued, "We'll take care of the small fry, so that you Ichigo, can concentrate on fighting that…"

He pointed to the Menos as she glanced at the girl before him, "That includes you too, Little Shigeru, so now isn't the time for idle chit-chat!"

They turned to see the Menos forcing his way through the expanding Garganta. It stepped a foot out, revealing its billowing black body. The other smaller hollows seemed to be cheering for it.

Ichigo and Uryuu's eyes widened, "It's coming out!"

"Do I _have_ to help," Shigeru whined.

The soreness of her body starting to get to her.

Kisuke stepped forth to whisper in the girls ear, "I know you're holding back. Just help your friends out, okay?"

The girl huffed in defeat as she stared up at the giant monster. It looked down at the cheering hollows. It's tongue shot out impaling a group of hollows causing the girl to jump back.

"What the fuck," she screamed.

It swallowed the smaller hollows much to the shock of most of the group. Shigeru looked on in disgust.

She stretched her arms to get rid of some of the sore that was setting in, "_I'm so used to thinking of the anime when I think of certain moments, I forgot this happened in the manga can be so brutal. Censorship, whew!" _

"It's eating it's fellow hollows," Uryuu stared on in horror.

Ichigo grumbled something to himself before charging at the giant hollow as he yelled, "Let's go, Shigeru! Uryuu!"

Shigeru groaned before following after her favorite idiot without question, "Please, don't do something stupid!"

"Hey! Wait up! You can't take that thing alone," Uryuu called chasing after the other two.

Ichigo continued to run toward the thing with his sword held high with the excitement of a madman. The Menos took another step out of the rip between dimensions. Ichigo charged at its foot as he brought his sword down cutting the monsters ankle, but he didn't have the strength to cut kill through. The hollow glanced down at the boy before kicking him away from its body. He went flying into Shigeru. They both crumbled to the ground.

"Get the hell off me you, dumb-ass," she yelled trying to untangle her limbs from his.

Ichigo might have been knocked out as he bled over the girl much to her disgust.

Uryuu pulled out his bow, "I told you so!"

He let the arrow loose. It barely made a nick on it's mask.

He growled, "_Shit, I figured as much! I can't do much damage at this rate…_"

Shigeru finally managed to push Ichigo's dead weight off of her. Uryuu ran over to the two.

"Are you two okay," he asked frantically.

Ichigo lifted his bleeding head and shakily grinned, "Yeah...I'm not so bad."

"What the hell were you trying to do? Slice it bit by bit," Shigeru yelled, punching him.

Ichigo laughed, "Well, I did consider cutting him bit by bit until I got to the head…"

"_Like Jenga_," Uryuu couldn't believe the boy.

Shigeru yelled, "What was all that talk earlier about not damaging your brain cells? You don't even have _functioning_ ones!"

Uryuu placed his hand on the top of Ichigo's zanpakuto, "Geez, how does his brain work! Stand up, so we can come up with a plan―"

His bow grew up to ten-times its original size. Shigeru blinked at the bow then to the bespectacled boy. Ichigo wasn't paying attention to what was happening with the bow. Shigeru and Uryuu locked eyes.

She grinned, "This could work!"

Uryuu released Ichigo's sword, but he's bow didn't return to normal. Ichigo looked up and did a double-take.

"What the hell happened to your bow? Why the hell is it so big," he stumbled back a little.

Shigeru covered Ichigo mouth with her hand, "Shut up, for a second"

Uryuu leaned over to the two excitedly, "This may sound like a weird idea, but I think I know a way to beat it!"

_A few minutes later_

"Okay! Preparation complete! Now we can fight," Uryuu declared.

Uryuu was on one knee as he aimed his giant bow and arrow at the Menos. On top of his head, Ichigo's zanpakuto was tied by the hilt with a piece of fabric. Ichigo gripped his sword from behind, looking so done with the whole thing. Shigeru grabbed her side as she laughed at how ridiculous they looked.

"_It's even funnier in person_," she laughed.

Ichigo let go of his sword, the bow shrinking as a result, and yelled, "Stop laughing!"

"I can't help it," she tried to stop.

Ichigo pointed at Uryuu, "See this is ridiculous!"

Uryuu turned, sword still attached to his head, "Stop complaining! If I constantly hold your sword and use your reiatsu I can shoot an unbelievably large arrow! Now hurry up and max out your power!"

"But I never control my reiatsu," Ichigo deadpanned.

Uryuu turned, Shigeru narrowly dodged the blade, and yelled, "What?!"

"Watch it, Uryuu!"

Uryuu stood up, "Don't be ridiculous! How have you been fighting hollows this whole time!"

"I don't know…," he admitted.

Uryuu was at a loss of words, "But…"

"Well if people say my power is great isn't it because I'm always maxing it out," Ichigo asked.

Uryuu stared at the boy trying to piece the information he received together, "_Maxing out constantly? Now his reiatsu makes sense, but he is constantly maxing it out without any fatigue. He really is a monster…" _

Shigeru huffed as he ripped Ichigo's zanpakuto off of Uryuu's head and threw it back to the orange haired boy. She placed her hand on Uryuu's back.

"It's pointless trying to explain this stuff to him. It just doesn't click with him, so here," she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath as she let loose.

Uryuu's bow increased in size again much to Ichigo and his shock. She opened her eyes and grinned.

"See easy!"

Uryuu glanced at Shigeru from over his shoulder, "_She's not showing signs of fatigue while releasing this much reiatsu. She's producing as much as Kurosaki does daily, no I think she's always done that, but she's just better at hiding her reiatsu than him. Has she been hiding her true potential this whole time? Shigeru just what are you?" _

The Menos seemed to have gotten impatient waiting for the teens to make their move. It opened its mouth to charge a cero, a red ball charged.

"This is it, I'm ready to take the shot, Shigeru," Uryuu yelled readying to fire.

Ichigo ran toward the giant hollow as it discharged the red death beam.

"Ichigo!"

He blocked the beam with his zanpakuto, using his arm to brace the blade. Uryuu and Shigeru shielded their eyes from the blinding light of the death beam. Shigeru could sense him bottling up his spiritual energy as the beam forced him down to his knees. He slowly stood to his feet as he continued the bottle up his reiatsu. He forced his blade up, repelling the energy back to the monster as well as his own reiatsu, slicing up it's body.

Shigeru gasped, "Whoa…"

The backlash from the force of the swing almost sent her and Uryuu flying. She covered her face from dust and debris. The Menos let out a deafening howl. It grabbed the sky, pulling it over itself like a curtain.

"It's leaving…," Uryuu said astonished.

Once the hollow was completely gone, Ichigo thrust the victory sign in the air.

"I win," he bellowed.

The sweat that was collecting on Uryuu's temple fell as he stared at the orange haired teen, "He...he scared that monster away…"

Shigeru punched her friend in the shoulder, "I told you earlier; just because its big doesn't mean it's worth more points!"

"Shigeru...that...hurt," he huffed.

He turned to face Uryuu, who was staring at him, "What, you're not going to thank me?"

"What," Uryuu snapped out of his stupor.

Ichigo closed his eyes as he huffed, "I help you out so you should thank me…"

The teen suddenly dropped to the ground.

"I can't move…," he was confused.

Shigeru just glanced at his fallen form before her eyes widened. His zanpakuto was becoming warped. A blinding light erupted from his sword.

Ichigo panicked, "What's happening?!"

"Tch," Shigeru smacked her lips.

She wasn't sure what to do. She didn't know any move that would release energy, but she had to figure something out and fast. Uryuu ran over to the two.

"Ichigo," he yelled as he got closer.

Uryuu thought fast. He stomped on Ichigo's sword, and his bow erupted in size.

He grit his teeth, "Shigeru, I think I can stabilize him if I shot off the rampant reiatsu!"

As he shot off arrow after arrow his arms and hands started to tear apart. Ichigo noticed the injuries that Uryuu was giving himself.

"Uryuu, stop! If you don't you'll lose your hands," he shouted.

Shigeru finally came to a realization, "_If I can't help in releasing the reiatsu, I'll just have to absorb as much as I can!"_

She dropped to her knees and grabbed Ichigo's vacant hand, "Shut up, Ichigo we know what we're doing!"

She allowed his reiatsu to flow through her. She flinched as her arms started springing cuts. Ichigo's reiatsu was sharp and trying to tear her apart almost as if it was rejecting her. She bit her lip and forced herself to concentrate. The more she took in, the easier it became, but her body still couldn't keep up with the sudden intake of energy resulting in more cuts. Her gloves were in shreds.

"Shigeru, no! Stop," he yelled, trying to take his hand away.

She gripped his hand harder as she yelled, "Shut up! We're trying to help you!"

He glanced at the other boy, "Uryuu! Stop her! I didn't ask you two to do this!"

"I already told you.." Uryuu grunted as he shot off another arrow, "I hate shinigami! You said so yourself, if we don't live we can't fight each other!"

He fired off another arrow.

"Want me to thank you? Don't even think about it…!"

Blood leaked down onto the pavement as he shot another arrow.

"You better live, so I can beat your ass, Ichigo Kurosaki!"

He fired another arrow and Shigeru absorbed more of his reiatsu.

"That's right! You better live so that I can pummel you after this, you idiot," she grunted.

Ichigo turned his gaze back to the brown haired girl as a cut appeared on her right cheek. Her brows furrowed together in concentration.

"I hate that about you, you know? You're always so worried about saving everyone that you sacrifice your body!"

His reiatsu was leveling out.

She yelled, "Then you have the_ nerve_ to not let others try to save you! It's so freaking annoying!"

She squeezed his hand as she opened her eyes and frowned at the boy, as Uryuu fell to his knees. She heard him mutter something about his grandfather. She released Ichigo's hand and shakily lifted her hands up. She frowned at the damage done to her arms.

Ichigo muttered, "Ugh, how am I supposed to beat him if he's looking so pathetic…"

Shigeru flicked his forehead, "He just saved your ungrateful ass, you Strawberry prick."

The boy was too tired to protest as he smirked at the girl, "Thank you too, sis."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she waved the boy off.

She stumbled onto her feet as she huffed. Her body felt heavy and tired. She took a step forward but her knees almost buckled under her own weight.

"_Why is it so hot all of a sudden_," she frowned as her version started to blur.

Ichigo noticed something wasn't right with the usually vocal girl as he called out to her, "Shigeru, are you okay?"

Uryuu glanced at the girl. She was sweating and had the faintest tremble. She began to sway. He tried to get up to catch the girl, but his body was too weak to stand.

She tried to blink the blurriness away from her eyes, "I think...I'm going to faint.."

The girl fell forward but stopped a foot from the ground.

"I got you, Little Shigeru," Kisuke said quietly as he lifted the girl up in his arms.

"_She's burning up,_" he noted as he placed a hand to her forehead. He looked down at the other two teens.

He smirked, "Good job!"

* * *

_Later that night_

Kisuke observed the sleeping brown skinned girl. Ururu placed her long hair in a braid, so as not to make her uncomfortable as she slept, and placed a cold cloth on her forehead to help with the fever. He'd returned her to her original body after the encounter with the Menos, and she's been unconscious ever since. He had Tessai treat the wounds that both Ichigo and Uryuu had sustained, and sent them both home. The orange haired teen didn't seem comfortable leaving Shigeru with the man, but Rukia assured him that she would be fine.

She groaned in her sleep as her brows furrowed. He gently patted the girl on her head to calm her.

Kisuke came to realize that Shigeru did in fact absorb Ichigo's reiatsu and her own reiatsu was forcing it to assimilate to her to further increasing her own abilities, but her physical body couldn't handle the sudden increase of reiatsu, resulting in the fever she currently had. Her body was forcing itself to adapt.

"You just keep getting more and more interesting, Little Shigeru," he mused as he brushed a few strands of hair from her face.

**Authors Note: Man, this chapter took awhile to write! Some people's favorite redhead and stoic captain will grace us with their presence. How will Shigeru handle them? You'll find out in a few days! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: I don't have anything to report! Any theories on why Shigeru is in the Bleach-verse? I'd love to hear what you guys think! Let's check on our favorite hyperactive substitute shinigami!**

Chapter 5: Howling Monkey, Fluttering Cherry Blossoms

Shigeru tossed and turned on the futon. She kicked off the heavy blanket off of her as she buried her face into the pillow. Her hair had fallen out of the braid Ururu was kind enough to do. It was now wild and tangled, some of it curled from her sweat. Her arms were bandaged up and large band aid cover the cut on her cheek. Shigeru slowly lifted her head off the pillow. She was still extremely groggy.

"Where...where am I," she groaned.

Kisuke entered the room with a tray of food. He held back a snicker at the sight of her hair. She just stared at the man unamused. She flopped back into the pillow face first.

Kisuke moved to kneel down on the mat next to the futon, "You've been out for quite awhile, Little Shigeru. We were beginning to wonder if you'd wake up tonight."

The girl turned over to face the ex-captain, "What happened?"

"Are you hungry? I'll explain while you eat," he smiled offering the tray to the teen.

She did feel famished for some reason. She sat up straight and gladly took the tray from the man, "Thank you…"

Shigeru grabbed the spoon next to her and engulfed the rice porridge. Kisuke smiled at the girls' poor manners.

"You have quite the unique ability, Little Shigeru," he started.

Shigeru frowned at the man, "I'm stuck with that nickname, aren't I?"

"I shortened it if that makes you feel better," he grinned before he continued, "looks like you absorbed a large amount of Ichigo's reiryoku when it was going rampant. Did you do that intentionally?"

She lowered her spoon, "Well, yeah… I didn't have a way to shoot it off like Uryuu, so I opted for the next best thing."

"Hmm, interesting…," the man mused as he rubbed his stubble.

She looked at the man, "What makes what I did unique?"

The man crossed his arms as he looked at the girl intently, "I'm sure you understand how shinigami and even Quincy's utilize their abilities."

"Yeah, for shinigami it's basically 'the power within', and for Quincy's they use the surrounding reishi for their attacks," she explained as she tried to comb her fingers through her hair.

Kisuke took the tray away from her, "Indeed, that's essentially how it works, but you did something a little different. Shinigami aren't really known for absorbing reishi or the reiatsu of others, but what you did was absorb the reiryoku, the spiritual energy, that was being released by Kurosaki. Your body forced that energy to assimilate with your own energy causing it to become your own."

"So… with time his energy will vanish from me," she asked tilting her head slightly confused.

Kisuke shook his head, "No, I'm saying that whatever reiryoku that you siphoned from Ichigo has been essential eaten by your own reiryoku. It's now a part of _your _energy, almost as if it never belonged to him in the first place."

"What? Wait, so what's the difference between reiatsu, reiryoku, and reishi because I thought that one person's reiatsu always returns to them, so wouldn't that be the same with reiryoku," Shigeru crossed her arms even more confused than before.

Kisuke pulled out a sketchbook, and started drawing.

Shigeru sweat-dropped, "_So Rukia isn't the only one that does this…_"

Kisuke finished his drawings and smirked at the girl, "Alright, look here!"

He held up the sketch pad to his chest. Shigeru leaned a little closer to see three circles. In one it read _Reiryoku_: the amount of energy being stored within one's body and soul, meaning actual spiritual energy. The middle circle, _Reiatsu:_ the pressure/physical force that a persons' reiryoku exerts, i.e. spiritual pressure. The third circle,_ Reishi_: spiritual particles, the main component material of Souls and all spiritual matter. This whole time Shigeru thought that reiatsu and reiryoku were one in the same. She took the sketch pad away from Kisuke and read the information over a couple more times.

"Oh, okay... I did get some things mixed up," she mumbled as she furrowed her brows.

Kisuke pulled out his fan and covered his face, "Essentially, you've absorbed the spiritual energy of another, which has increased your own spiritual energy and in turn increased your spiritual pressure. It's not something that's really heard of, but you did it instinctively…"

She looked up to the man as she crossed her legs, "So why did I pass out?"

"Your body was forcing itself to adapt to the sudden massive increase of energy, which resulted in that fever you experienced," he explained.

Shigeru sighed, "_So I'm like a goddamn leech or something…_"

He observed the girls lack of real reaction, "You don't seem surprised by all this."

"Trust me, at this point in life _nothing_ can surprise me," she smiled as she waved the man off.

Kisuke hummed at her response. Shigeru looked around for her things gathering up.

She turned to the man as she rubbed her arms and asked, "Do you think this was a fluke?"

"I'm not sure about that. Only time can tell, but I wouldn't go around doing that again if I were you. You could tear your body apart," Kisuke noted seriously.

Shigeru considered it before she grinned, "We'll just have to see, won't we."

She stood up and headed to the door with her things in hand. Shigeru noticed that her body still felt a little heavy, but just assumed it to be fatigue. After all, she did overexert herself and then pushed her own body to its limits while trying to save Ichigo.

"It's late so I'm going home! Thanks for taking care of me," she waved back at the man as she exited the place.

* * *

_At school_

Shigeru decided to travel to school on her own today. She needed time to think, and she knew that Ichigo would probably apologize to her nonstop about her wounds. She looked down at her bandaged arms. The cuts weren't deep and at most were just scratches. The first aid made her injuries look worse than they actually were. After leaving Kisuke's she tried to think of other people in the _Bleach-verse,_ if any, who could do what she'd done the day before. The only ones she could think of were the Quincy's, but even then it wasn't quite the same. The Quincy manipulated reishi to increase their own reiryoku as they create their weapons and attacks temporarily. She'd taken the actual spiritual energy from someone and made it her own, which increased her own individual power permanently… She decided to suppress her reiatsu a little for the time being.

Shigeru yawned as she approached the school.

"_I can't shake this sleepiness for some reason,_" she thought.

It seemed that her body was still adjusting to her newly found reiryoku and reiatsu. She entered the classroom.

"Morning, guys," she yawned.

The group stared at the girl before panicking.

"What happened to my beautiful goddess," Keigo yelled as he attached himself to her hip.

She was too tired to even attack the boy today, "I got hit by a car, but it looks worse than it actually is."

Tatsuki kicked the brown hair teen off of her and grabbed her hands, "This looks like it hurt! Are you sure you're alright?"

"Perfectly fine. They're really just scratches," she grinned sheepishly.

Orihime gazed at her wounds with a serious expression, "It looks painful…"

Shigeru patted the shorter girl on the head, "It wasn't I promise!"

Ichigo walked into the classroom and spotted Shigeru. He glanced at her arms and guilt instantly took over his features.

"_Good grief_," she rolled her eyes.

She bounced over to the teen and flicked his forehead, "Stop that."

"Ow, Shigeru," he frowned at her stared at her bandaged cheek.

She pouted and flicked him again, "I said stop that. I didn't hurt...much. So don't go getting all gloomy and shit on me!"

He smiled as he shook his head, "Alright, if you say so."

She smirked before she yawned again before she turned to Rukia, who looked down. She flicked her in the head as well.

The black haired girl flinched and covered her forehead, "What was that for?"

"Stop moping around. Everything will be fine," she declared as she smiled at the shorter shinigami.

The bell rang and everyone waddled to their seats. Shigeru placed her head down on the desk as Ochi-sensei started to take attendance. Shigeru was fighting her sleep most of the morning. Suddenly, during third period, the door slammed open revealing Uryuu, who much like herself, was covered in bandages.

"Uryuu! What happened to you? Were you in an accident," their teacher asked.

He adjusted his glasses, "I...fell down some stairs."

While their teacher nodded the rest of the class didn't buy it one bit. Shigeru started to doze off during class. She slipped into a dreamless slumber, but she felt something calling to her. It was like a pull from within, but before she could make her way to it she was shaken awake by Tatsuki.

"It's lunch time! Have you not been sleeping at night or something," the girl asked.

Shigeru rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "Something like that…"

She was hungrier than usual for some reason too. I knew that shinigami were different from other spirits because the need to eat, but with her being human, it didn't make sense why her appetite increased so much. She made a huge breakfast, and packed double for lunch. Orihime asked her to join them for lunch, and she agreed. The girls usually ate outside on really nice days. As they wandered outside Shigeru leaned on Tatsuki.

"Tatsuki, carry me," she whined as she leaned all her weight onto the shorter girl.

Tatsuki sighed before lifting the girl onto her back. Shigeru held both of their lunches in front of them.

"Yayyy," she said softly.

Chizuru asked the group, "Has anyone seen Rukia? We should invite her to eat with us."

"That sounds like a great idea," Michiru smiled as she hopped up and down.

After a few minutes they found Rukia sitting in the branches of one of the trees facing the school building.

"Rukia, you want to eat with us," the girls called.

Rukia blinked and she glanced at the group of girls. She mustered a smile, "Sure!"

She climbed back down to the girls who settled under the tree. Shigeru slipped off of Tatsuki's back.

"Shigeru, you're heavier than you look," Tatsuki complained as she stretched out her muscles.

Shigeru rolled on the grass, "Think of it as weight training!"

They got comfy as they ate. Shigeru noticed the Rukia had this sad aura about her. This was the night that she'd run away, and there would be no stopping her. She basically inhaled her lunch before rolling over to Rukia.

Ryo sighed, "Shigeru, you'll get your uniform dirty."

"Let her be an idiot," Tatsuki grumbled as she bit into her sandwich.

Orihime beamed at the girl, "You're like a caterpillar! Oh, do you want to try my lunch?"

The orange-haired girl pulled out something that looked like a giant piece of cake. Shigeru wasn't really listening to what it actually was as she took a bite. She chewed it slowly as the other girls grimaced.

She swallowed, "Not bad, Orihime."

Shigeru patted the giggling girl on her head.

"_What's her stomach made of_," the other girls thought in unison hoping she didn't get sick later.

Shigeru flopped her head into Rukia's lap and dozed off. She was hoping that it would comfort the woman a little bit. Rukia smiled softly as she patted the girl's head.

"_I'm going to miss this little one's antics, but at least I know I can leave Ichigo in her hands. She makes more rational decisions, and she can punch some sense into him when he's being an idiot_," Rukia thought as she smiled sadly.

* * *

Shigeru slept the day away at school, and even after school she was still groggy. Ichigo walked her to her apartment after she explained that she wasn't feeling up to hanging out at his place tonight. Now, she was sitting in the middle of her bed in a black, long sleeve crop top, and black shorts. She was currently braiding her low ponytail. Shigeru flopped back on to her pillow after tying the end of the braid.

"How long is my body going to feel so damn sluggish," she grumbled.

She pulled out her phone and began looking through some news articles on local and worldwide events. Her eyes began to feel heavier with each passing minute. She pulled her glasses off and placed them on the nightstand. She tried to shake away the fatigue as she focused on the weather forecast for the week. She blinked rapidly as she fought her sleep, but her tired body won in the end.

She felt like she was swimming in the darkness of her mind. She felt that force pulling her again. She tried to open her eyes to see where she was going, but her eyes remained sealed. Shigeru kept heading toward the thing that was calling to her anyway. The ground beneath her feet felt rocky and there was so much warmth around her. She could hear the rumble of thunder, and could smell the electricity in the air.

"_Just where am I,_" she questioned as she tried to pry her eyes open again.

She jumped at the sudden booming thunder that echoed around her.

"_It's too early…_," a deep, velvety voice called out barely a whisper.

Shigeru stood at attention, "What?!"

A strong feminine voice whispered, "_You must leave_..."

She turned her body to face the direction of the new voice. Shigeru could barely hear their voices but they were close, so close, yet so far.

"Where do I have to go," she asked in a panic.

The deeper voice, male, she assumed, spoke, "_To save…_"

His voice was getting weaker. She suddenly felt something pushing her away from the warmth.

"Wait! Who are you," Shigeru yelled.

"_Soon...you'll hear...our.._," the woman's voice was going in and out, weaker than before.

The force pushing her sent her flying.

Shigeru flailed around for something, anything, to hang onto.

"Wait! No!," Shigeru yelled, trying with all her might to peel her eyes open.

"_Go!_" the voices roared in unison, louder than they were before.

Shigeru's eyes shot open as she jumped up in her bed. She breathing ragged as she tried to catch her breath. She turned around frantically grabbing her phone: 2:30 A.M. She was wide awake for the first time all day.

"I'm back in my room," she huffed.

A sudden burst of reiatsu grabbed her attention. She jumped off her bed as her eyes widened.

"Oh no…"

Shigeru snatched her glasses off of the nightstand and rushed to put on her combat boots. She jumped out of her window. She was in such a rush that she didn't even bother to exit her body as a shinigami. She concentrated her reiatsu around her body, effectively creating an air platform to run on. The girl could feel multiple reiatsu signatures in one area. She speed in the direction.

"Ichigo! Please don't be dead," she huffed.

She descended to the ground as she closed in on the group of people. When she was close enough she could see flashes of red and orange.

She heard a man shout, "In the end, you will lose to me, Renji Abarai! You _will_ die here!"

Shigeru enhanced her body and launched herself toward the group.

"_Renji, you're actually a really great guy, and I'll apologize _profusely_ for this in the future! But right now I have to kick you in the face,_" she thought as she flew through the clearing as her foot connected with the redheaded shinigami's cheek.

Renji went flying into a lamppost, shattering it in the process, as Shigeru landed in a crouch.

"Shigeru," Rukia yelled.

She glanced over to her and winked, "'Sup!"

Rukia pleaded with the girl, "Please, run away! I don't want to see you get hurt!"

Shigeru quickly glanced around the area. Rukia stood by an unconscious and bleeding Uryuu, Ichigo was behind her collapsed but awake, and the stoic Byakuya Kuchiki stared at the girl coldly.

"And just who the hell are you," Renji yelled from behind her as he rose from the debris, cheek bleeding as he spit a wad of bloodied saliva to the side.

She glanced over to acknowledge the man but before she could respond Byakuya spoke.

He looked the girl up and down, "Shigeru Kuroi. A shinigami from a surrounding district granted her his abilities before he perished. We were assigned to deal with her as well as Ichigo Kurosaki."

"It's nice to know that I'm well known," she smirked.

Rukia yelled, "Shigeru, this isn't a laughing matter they'll―"

"Another human associate of yours, Rukia? Seriously, how far have you fallen," Renji yelled as he swung his Zabimaru at the seemingly disarmed teen.

Shigeru dodged the extending blade before punching it to the side much to Renji's shock. She readied herself to attack the man again, when Ichigo stood to his feet. His reiatsu climbing. The tassel on the hilt of his zanpakuto exploded into shreds.

"Shigeru, stay back," he demanded as he charged for the redheaded shinigami slicing his shoulder.

She frowned, "Ichigo, stop!"

He didn't listen. He was high on his sudden energy boost as he attacked the man. He flung the opposing shinigami away with a swing of his sword. She thought he looked just like his inner hollow with the manic grin he had on his face as he continued his assault. Renji managed to grab the hand rail on the sidewalk to catch his balance. He glared at the boy as his goggles shattered, blood leaking down his forehead.

"What's wrong? Your movements became really slow all of a sudden," the teen laughed hysterically.

Renji grit his teeth, "_What's this guy talking about? He's the one that's suddenly gotten faster!"_

"I don't really know what's happening but I feel great! I can't even feel my wounds now," Ichigo shouted as he went to attack him again, "I don't think I'll lose to you!"

Shigeru prepared to knock out the boy, "He's hysterical! I have to stop him!"

She noticed Byakuya flicker out of her line of sight.

"Shit! Ichigo watch out―"

It was too late Byakuya shunpo-ed over to the teen and snapped his zanpakuto in half before flashing back to his previous spot. Her eyes widened. She couldn't even follow the man's movements. Renji and Ichigo both stared at the broken blade in shock.

"W-What," Ichigo muttered.

He glanced over to the captain. His eyes widened as he looked at the blade in his hand. Byakuya dropped the blade like it was a piece of trash. Byakuya reached for the hilt of his blade.

Rukia and Shigeru yelled, "Ichigo!"

Byakuya flashed over to the teen again.

She couldn't even see his first attack, but she knew he had just destroyed his Saketsu as blood erupted from his chest. Ichigo began to fall forward.

"You're slow. Even when you're falling," the man observed coldly.

Rukia yelled, "Brother! No!"

He spared his sister a glance before stabbing the boy again destroying his Hakusui. Shigeru ran forward to catch the boy before distancing them from the man quickly. She looked down to her dying friend.

"Dammit, Ichigo," she muttered.

Renji shakily stood to his feet, "I...I didn't need your assistance, Captain. I could have finished him myself."

"Nonsense, Renji. Even my skill would begin to wane if I played spectator all the time," the captain replied smoothly as he glanced at Shigeru.

Byakuya appeared before her. Her eyes widened as she saw the glint of his blade. She narrowly managed to dodged the blow aimed for her own Saketsu. Renji and Rukia's eyes widened.

Rukia trembled, "She managed to dodged my brother…"

"That's not possible," Renji whispered.

Shigeru frowned, "_No, that was fucking luck!_"

The man watched her with cold determination. He tried to sneak up behind her again, but Shigeru flipped forward.

"_I can't be powerless! I've got to protect myself! Protect my core,_" she thought desperately.

Shigeru's first mistake was panicking. She knew that Ichigo would survive this ordeal, but she was a different story. Her life was not guaranteed in this universe, one mistake and who knew what would happen. Would she end up back in her original universe, or just cease to exist completely? Her second mistake was losing control over her reiatsu. It weighed down bringing Rukia to her knees and stunning the captain and lieutenant.

Byakuya's eyes widened, "_Impossible…she didn't have this reiatsu moments ago._"

Shigeru froze as she witnessed the effect her reiatsu had on her friends. Rukia's collapsed form, Uryuu seemed to be in even more pain in his unconscious state, and Ichigo was struggling to hang onto what little consciousness he had left. She ran over to the fallen substitute shinigami. That was her third and final mistake. The captain appeared before her again, only this time he gave her no room to react.

"Damn," she squeezed her eyes shut, "_Protect my core!_"

The blade pierced her flesh at two points. She didn't even scream out due to the shock. She glared at the blade embedded in her flesh before glaring at the stoic captain before her. She grit her teeth as she coughed up some blood. Byakuya pulled the blade from her body, but she refused to crumble to the ground. The man glared at the girls' refusal to die as her blood pooled around them.

Rukia jumped over the railing and ran to the boy and girl, "Shigeru! Ichigo!"

Renji charged Rukia and slammed her to the lamppost next to them by her throat.

"Let go, Renji! Ichigo and Shigeru are..," she screamed at the man.

Renji shouted right back at the distressed woman, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Look, that rookie is _died_! The girl is barely clinging to life!"

He pointed to the two fallen teens, "There's no point in getting into more trouble over a couple of corpses! You get it now? If you touch them, you'll get 20 years added to your sentence―"

"So what?! I'm the one that dragged them into this...it's my fault they'll die! So is it so wrong for me to go to them," Rukia cried out.

Renji loosened his grip on her. Byakuya took a step toward his sister. Shigeru had passed out from the blood loss on her knees, her eyes glazed over.

"...So even if your punishment worsens, you'd still want to be by the side of these children," he looked his sister in the eyes searching for the answer.

"Brother…," Rukia didn't know how to reply.

Byakuya glanced back to the teens beside him, "I see…"

He regarded Ichigo before turning looking back at the woman, "He does bear a striking resemblance to _him_…"

Rukia frowned. Ichigo reached out to grab the leg of Byakuya's shihakusho.

"What do you mean "already dead", and resembling someone...stop talking about me like I'm not even here," Ichigo huffed as he raised his head.

Relief took over Rukia's face, "Ichi―"

"Let go," Byakuya said without sparing the boy a glance.

Her eyes widened with fear.

"Sorry did you say something? How about you look at me if you wanna say something," Ichigo huffed cockily.

Byakuya slowly turned to face the teen. He commented smoothly, "I see, you no longer want your arm."

Rukia ran over and kicked Ichigo's hand away from her brother much to the orange-haired boys' shock.

"How dare you grab my brother's robe like that, you human. Know your place," she declared angrily to the boy.

Ichigo's eyes widened, "What?"

Rukia turned to Byakuya, "Let's go, brother. After seeing such crude behavior, I've come to my senses. Please take me back to the Soul Society, I humbly accept my punishment."

"What the hell are you talking about?! Rukia...you," he tried to force himself up.

Renji slammed his foot into the injured boys back, "You're just making things worse. Just stay here and die."

The three shinigami walked away from the two fallen teens.

Ichigo yelled, "Stop right there, Rukia! Is this some kind of joke? Look at me!"

Rukia continued to walk away.

"Hey! Don't move!"

Rukia paused in her stride, "Don't even try to move one step from there. If you try to follow me…"

She turned to the boy with a watering eyes, "I'll never forgive you!"

Ichigo's eyes widened. Rukia glanced over to the silent Shigeru, who has not moved from her position as she bleed out onto the concrete. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the tears away, before regarding the boy once more.

"You are going to die! Conserve what little energy you have to linger a moment longer," she bit out as coldly as she could.

Byakuya released his zanpakuto, "I suppose I'll leave them be. I've severed their Saketsu and Hakusui. They should die within the hour, and even if they did manage to survive not even a speck of their shinigami abilities will be left. They'll be ordinary humans."

Renji opened up a Senkaimon and the three disappeared as it closed. Ichigo glanced over to Shigeru.

"_Shigeru...you helped me again,and now you might die because of it...dammit. I couldn't protect Rukia, and I couldn't protect you,"_ he grit his teeth.

He yelled one final time as he finally started to slip. Kisuke and a black cat went unnoticed by him as they stood over the fallen forms of the teens shielding them from the rain with their umbrella.

* * *

Shigeru felt cold. Something inside her was finally cracking. It was covering something. Something important. Protecting it like a shield, but now it wasn't needed. The threat was gone. Warmth seethed through the cracks. The shield was gone. She no longer needed it. It completely shattered. She relaxed. The warmth comforted her.

She slowly opened her eyes to see a familiar ceiling. Shigeru tried to sit up but flinched as pain spiked throughout her body. She looked down to see her chest covered in bandages along with fresh bandages on her arms. As she laid back down Kisuke walked into the room, Yoruichi draped over his shoulders.

"We sure are patching you up quite often," he grinned.

She tried to smile but grimaced, "Seems like it… Has he woken up yet?"

"Not yet," he said plainly as the black cat hopped off his shoulder pawing her way over the the healing girl.

Her golden eyes shimmered with curiosity. The cat asked in her deep masculine voice, "How do you feel?"

Shigeru sighed, "Like I've been stabbed."

"You don't seem surprised by the talking cat," Kisuke pouted disappointedly.

Shigeru looked off to the side. Yoruichi stepped closer to her face and looked deep into her eyes, "I meant spiritually. How do you feel?"

"I…," Shigeru's eyes furrowed together before they widened. She shot off the futon and instantly regretted it, hand clenching at her chest.

"I...I feel fine, but...but how? I'm sure he stabbed me in my Saketsu and Hakusui. I _felt_ it," the girl stammered.

Yoruichi hopped into the girls' lap, "Something inside you protected them. What you felt was whatever protected you being struck instead. You, Shigeru, are very special."

"And very lucky," Kisuke added grimly, "Now, I think there are things that you've been keeping from us…"

Shigeru looked down as she clenched her hand in the blanket. She took a deep breath before she turned to the man and were-cat.

"_I guess I can't keep it a secret anymore…_"

"There are things that I need to tell you. I don't know if you all will believe me, but I will explain as much as I possibly can. Ichigo has to hear this as well, so we should wait for when he wakes―"

A very unmanly scream echoed through the store.

"Boss! Ichigo has regained consciousness! Boss!"

Shigeru pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "Well that was quicker than I expected…"

Kisuke helped the girl to her feet and they made their way to the room the frantic boy was currently in. He motioned for her to stay outside the room. She nodded.

"_How do I even begin to explain this? Hey, I've known about your life since I was in middle school. Oh, and I'm from a different universe. And let's not mention I know the future_," she panicked internally.

These last couple of months have been nothing but fun and games, but from this point on things were serious. Kill or be killed.

A large thump snapped her out of his thoughts. She entered the room to see Ichigo flat on his back with Kisuke hovering over him menacingly. The end of his cane a couple inches away from his throat.

Kisuke glared down at the boy, "You are weak. A weakling barging into enemy territory...is _suicide_. "To rescue Rukia?" Stop being so childish. Don't use other people as an excuse to go kill yourself. "

Ichigo remained silent as Kisuke stood to his full height. He sent her a look to remain silent for a few moments more. She nodded.

"We will take ten days to annoy you, I mean, train you. It'll take seven days to open the doors to the Soul Society. So after you arrive at the Soul Society, you will have thirteen days. That's plenty of time," Kisuke explained.

Ichigo looked off to the side silently, "Will I become stronger in ten days?"

"Of course, if you truly desire to save Rukia," the ex-captain smiled.

Ichigo gazed up with determination clear on his face.

Kisuke turned to Shigeru, "Now, our Little Shigeru has something to discuss with us…"

Ichigo gazed up at the brown haired girl, who smiled nervously, "Yeah, there's that…"

* * *

They switched rooms as they sat around a table. Shigeru sat across from Ichigo and Tessai, Kisuke to her left, and Yoruichi lazed on the table itself.

She took a deep breath as she gathered her thoughts.

"I'm not originally from here, and I don't mean this town or plane of existence. I'm not from this universe…," she stated as their eyes widened.

She continued, "Where I'm originally from this world is fictional. Shinigami, hollows, Soul Society, none of it exist. It's all just apart of manga and anime that I followed from middle school until my first year of college―"

"College? But you're only sixteen," Ichigo frowned, obviously confused.

Shigeru placed a hand on her chest, "Yes, here I'm physically sixteen, but," she pointed to her head, "mentally I'm twenty-four years old."

His eyes widened but he said nothing.

"One night I fell asleep, when I woke up I was sixteen again. Here in this town, in this world. But I have no clue how this happened, and I remember everything that this alternate version of me has experienced as well as my original life from where I'm from… whatever force that's at work here _wants_ me to be a part of your story, Ichigo," she looked the boy in his eyes.

Her eyes clear as she glanced at all the people present, so they knew she had no intent on lying.

Ichigo was the first to speak, "Answer me one question: Did you know that Rukia would leave, that she would be executed?"

Shigeru looked the boy straight in the eyes and without hesitation answered.

"Yes."

Ichigo, enraged, grabbed the girl by the front of her shirt and yelled, "And you were just going to allow it to happen?!"

"Ichigo, let her go," Kisuke hopped up.

The boy ignored him and continued to yell, "Why didn't you just tell me?!"

Shigeru wrapped her hands around the boy's wrist as she watched the boy coolly, "It's not that simple, Ichigo."

"Don't give me that shit! You know the future! It could have easily been prevented! I could have―"

Shigeru squeezed the boy's wrist with bone breaking strength causing him to flinch, "You could have _what_? Did you honestly think that you would have been able to stop a Captain and Lieutenant level shinigami from the Gotei 13? Look what happened to me! With all my foresight I damn near _died _the same as you!"

Ichigo flinched as she applied more pressure to his wrist. The boy fell to his knees. Tessai stood up ready to separate the two, but Kisuke shook his head. The larger man lowered his hands back to his sides.

"Like Kisuke said, you are _weak_! Even if I'd warned you the results would have been the same, so stop acting like a child," she yelled down at the boy.

He stared at her silently and she continued, "Yes! I know the future, but for the sake of this world and its natural order I cannot reveal that information, for all I know it would cause the very fabric of your universe to unravel! I consider Rukia my friend, but there's an order to things!"

The boy glared at the girl with so much spite in his eyes, "You're no friend to Rukia or me. You're just some outsider that involved yourself in our lives."

Shigeru flinched away as if she'd been slapped. She released the boy. Ichigo crumbled to the floor. She looked down at the boy hurt evident in her eyes.

"See... you are nothing more than a child with a hero complex," she reiterated callously.

The boy stood and ran out of the room. Shigeru sat back down at the table.

Kisuke ran a hand down his face and sighed, "I can have Tessai bring him back…"

"No, let him go. It's not my job to stroke his ego," she fumed, frowning deeply.

Tessai placed a hand on the girl's shoulder as he spoke up, "I'm sure if we give him time to himself he'll understand what you've told us. He didn't mean what he said."

"Yes...yes he did," Shigeru conceded firmly.

She stood up and again to face the shop owner, "Can I stay here to rest for a bit longer? I'm not up for going to school today."

"Take all the time you need," Kisuke answered quietly.

Shigeru forced a smile onto her face, "Thank you!"

She left the room and went back to the room where she was resting before. Once she closed the door she allowed the tears she was holding back to rain down her face freely. She refused to let some of the strongest people in this universe see her at her weakest. The entire time she had been in the _Bleach-verse_, she'd focused on everything but the one real problem.

She was an _outsider_.

Ichigo was right. She wasn't meant to be here. Her family and friends didn't exist, her abilities were given to her, she missed her parents, her sister, her cousins, the family dog, almost everything she left behind and...she didn't know if she'd ever go back to her original universe.

She wiped her tears away with vigor.

"_No! Tears solve nothing! I have to move forward. I have to keep moving forward. If I start to wallow and think of my past, then I'll never succeed here! I'm here for a reason...even if I don't know what it is yet."_

Shigeru dragged herself over to the futon. She needed more rest. She had her own personal training to attend to soon.

A couple hours later Kisuke entered the room. Shigeru was still sleeping. He gently nudged her awake. She mumbled something incoherent as she opened her eyes. She blinked and rubbed the sleep from her slightly swollen eyes.

"Yes," she croaked groggily.

Kisuke presented her with a pill bottle, "I want you to take one of these pills by the hour. They'll heal you faster, think you can do that for me?"

She nodded her head taking the pill bottle. She popped it open and swallowed a pill before snuggling back into the blanket.

He patted her on the head, "You're not a morning person, are you?"

She groaned and mumbled but the man couldn't make out anything she said.

Kisuke laughed, "I'll take that as a no, but you should head back to your place. Get things in order. You'll be gone for a while."

The girl drifted back to sleep, however. He leaned closer to the girl's ear.

"If you get up I'll let you help with the first portion of Ichigo's training," he purred.

She perked up a little after hearing that. She opened an eye to squint at the man as she mumbled, "Really…?"

"Really!"

"Can I hit him?"

"If he doesn't dodge that's his fault," he smiled deviously.

Shigeru sat up and returned the smile, "Alright, I'm awake!"

She managed to go to pack enough clothes for the time she would spend at Kisuke's shop, and took a shower while she was at it. When she was changing in front of the mirror she stared at the new ugly scars she was sporting. The jagged scars on her chest and stomach made her frown, but she didn't really mind that much. With time they would fade. Shigeru pulled on a deep purple cropped hoodie, some cargo pants, and some comfortable running shoes.

"Alright, I think I'm all set," she declared as she pulled her hair in a high ponytail.

The alarm on her phone went off. It was time to take another pill. She pulled out the pill bottle that had a skull and crossbones smack dead in the middle of the label. After she took the horse pill, a text came in from her aunt.

"_What should I tell her_," she thought as she read over the text.

Shigeru settled for telling her aunt that she would be a camp with her new friends for most of the summer, but when she got back she'd come to visit. One lecture about short notices, and apologies later, she made her way back to the shop.

Outside the shop was Kisuke and his crew and a bowing Ichigo.

"So nice of you to rejoin us, Little Shigeru," he called the girl over.

Ichigo slowly turned to face the girl he considered a sister. He deeply regretted the things he said when he yelled at her. He placed a hand to the back of his neck as he looked off to the side guilty. When he opened his mouth to say something, she quickly avoided him.

"_I don't blame her…,_" he thought.

Shigeru didn't spare the boy even a glance as she passed him, she had nothing to say to him at the moment. She wasn't angry, but she was still just a little hurt.

As they entered the building Ichigo placed his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him cooly.

He gulped, "Listen, Shigeru...I―"

"Don't bother. It's whatever," she shrugged his hand off of her.

He clenched his fist and conceded. They climbed down into the underground training facility. Shigeru looked around with childlike wonder.

"_Just how the hell does this place have artificial sunlight? How did he create this place so fast_," she gazed as they continued their descent.

Once everyone was grounded Kisuke started to happily yell like an idiot.

"Whoaaa! What _is _this place," his yell echoed throughout the hideout.

Shigeru covered her ear as she grinned at the man as Ichigo told the man to stop trying to impress him. Ururu pulled on her hoodie to grab her attention. She smiled down at the meek girl.

"Please come with me," the little girl said meekly.

Shigeru patted the adorable girl on her head and nodded. Ururu led her to some fighting gear, and gently handed Shigeru a set of headgear and some gloves. She quickly placed them on.

As she flexed her hands she grinned, "_Oh yeah, I'm going to enjoy this!_"

Ururu grabbed some gear for Ichigo as they made their way back to the group.

"Hey! Are you two ready," Kisuke called out happily.

Ichigo, who was now just an ordinary soul, turned to face the two girls. Ururu did a courtesy with the gear in her skirt.

"Pleased...pleased to meet you," she mumbled.

Shigeru patted the girl on her head and smiled, "Such good manners! You're so adorable, Ururu!"

"Um, hello," Ichigo blinked.

Kisuke crossed his arms and happily announced, "This is your first lesson! Try fighting them!"

Ururu tossed the gear over to the boy. Shigeru helped her put on her own gear.

"Excuse me," Ichigo blinked at the man.

Kisuke smiled at the boy and placed a finger in the air, "The rules are simple! Try to knock them out before they knock you out!"

Ichigo turned back Kisuke and shouted, "You can't be serious! I'm not hitting a little kid!"

"Oh yeah, and what about me," Shigeru smirked evilly at the boy.

He shuttered, "I can't fight you either!"

"Listen, Ichigo. Considering the state you're in you'll find this to be pretty difficult," Kisuke grinned.

Shigeru started to stretch while Ururu threw a couple of practice punches.

Ururu grabbed his gear and tossed them closer to the boy, "Please, be sure to put these on or you'll _die_."

The small girl ran over the teen, her arm cocked back. Once she was inches from him she went for the hit. The ground exploding in a cloud of smoke and rubble as the crater created from the sheer force of her punch formed.

Shigeru whistled as Kisuke pulled out his fan.

"See, I told you," he called.

The others looked onward.

"He's not getting up," Jinta commented.

Tessai crossed his arms, "I wonder if he's dead."

"I wonder…," Kisuke hummed.

Ichigo emerged from the dust and took off running toward the small girl, but passed her as he panicked. He grabbed the gear on the ground. Shigeru allowed him to pass her as he tried to force the gear on.

Ichigo cried out, "How the hell do you put this thing on?!"

Shigeru jumped into the air above the boy. She swung her leg above her head before bringing it just inches from the boy. Ichigo screamed as he was knocked to the side by the shock wave of the blow. He blinked at the crater that Shigeru created before gazing up to see the girls face. He's body began to convulse from fear.

"You'd better figure it out quickly! Otherwise we'll kill you," she grinned at the boy manically.

Ichigo paled as he got back on his feet and ran for dear life while Shigeru followed after him aiming more punches and kicks at him while laughing like a madwoman. Ururu was close behind doing the same.

After Ichigo figured out how to strap the headgear on, he turned to face the girls.

"Alright, come on," he punched his fist together.

Shigeru and Ururu glanced at each other. They aimed a punch at him together. He barely dodges. Ichigo runs away again, as he yelled at Kisuke with plenty of complaints.

"You'd better start attacking," Shigeru called as she gained up on him.

Ichigo stopped abruptly and faced the girls.

She cackled, "Good! I was getting tired of chasing you!"

Shigeru continued her pursuit as he put his arms up to guard himself. She aimed a punch to his face. He dodged the blow and went for one of his own. Shigeru smirked as she ducked letting Ururu use her as a step, so she could attack the boy. Ichigo dodged her blow as well much to the little girls shock. Ichigo charged the girls as they dodged his blows easily.

"_He's getting better,_" Shigeru declared happily.

He aimed another punch at Ururu. His fist cut the girls cheek. Ururu's eyes dilated as she entered Slaughter Mode. Ichigo's eyes widened at the sudden killing intent.

"You hesitated, dumb-ass," Shigeru grinned with killing intent.

She appeared at his side readying a kick. Ururu jumped onto the boys outstretched arm, leg pulled back for a powerful kick. They both went to strike the boy at the same time, but before her foot could completely connect with Ichigo's ribs, Kisuke appeared grabbing both her and Ururu by the ankles.

"Safe~," the man sang.

They looked over to where Ichigo was tossed by the force of the girls powerful strikes. Ichigo lay in a crater with one of the boulders than where scattered around the training ground. Blood was dripping down the side of his face from Ururu's kick. Tessai was behind the boy, providing him cushion from the rocks.

Shigeru pouted at the shopkeeper, "I thought you said I could hit him!"

"Little Shigeru, you could have actually killed him," Kisuke grinned down at the girl.

She crossed her arms over her chest, "...I wasn't. I was just venting."

Kisuke hummed. Shigeru wiggled her ankle, "So are you going to let go anytime soon?"

Ichigo came to. He looked around himself, "I see...I lost.."

Kisuke released Shigeru and wandered over to the boy. Ichigo yelled in frustration.

He bowed to Kisuke, "Please, let me try again!"

Kisuke waved his fan in the boys face, "You passed! Lesson one complete!"

"Huh?"

Kisuke laughed as he explained the lesson. Shigeru tossed the gear off of her body as he explained how powerful Ururu really was. She noticed Tessai sneaking up on the boy with an ax. The larger man placed a finger to his lip when he noticed her staring at him. She shrugged her shoulders. She took a seat on a nearby rock to watch it all unfold. She heard Kisuke suggest something in celebration of Ichigo clearing the first lesson.

"_Oh boy_," she winced as Tessai appeared slicing the boys Saketsu from his physical body.

Ichigo froze from shock as he watched what little amount of the chain he had left dangle from his chest.

Kisuke smirked, "Let's continue to lesson two!"

Kisuke went on to explain to Ichigo about his next lesson, and how he must resurface as a shinigami or they will kill him as a hollow. Shigeru pulled out the soul candy from one of her pockets. She swallowed it down and entrusted her body to the gikon for the time being. She stretched her arms over her head until she felt a satisfying pop. While Ichigo was in the Shattered Shaft with Tessai, she had her own personal journey to overcome.

She peered over as she heard Ichigo shout and then a loud crash. She hopped back over to stand by Kisuke.

"Oh my. You're not in the position to question whether this is possible or not. Look," he instructed.

Shigeru peered down the shaft to see mouths grow out of Ichigo's Saketsu. The boy screamed in terror as the chain began to eat itself.

Kisuke smirked, "The corrosion has already begun!"

"That's_ so_ gross," Shigeru gagged.

The chain bit Ichigo as he slammed his body against the wall of the shaft to prevent the thing from eating itself.

Shigeru pulled away from the edge of the shaft, "Yesh, that's scary…"

Kisuke went on to say, "You have 3 days, Ichigo. Either transform into a shinigami and climb this shaft, or turn into a hollow and be killed by us."

Shigeru wandered off from the group to a more secluded area as they observed the the teens progress. Jinta was teasing him and coerced Ururu into trying to spit on the Ichigo. She smiled and shook her head at the children's antics. She always wondered if these kids were adopted by the shinigami because they were always at his shop, and there was never any mention of their families. She looked down at her zanpakutos. She placed her hands on their hilts.

"_That feeling I've been feeling lately, and that dream...I'm sure that was you guys_," she rubbed her hand along the hilts.

"Little Shigeru~"

Kisuke wrapped his arms loosely around the girls shoulders and placed his chin on top of her head.

"What will you do while Ichigo overcomes the Shattered Shaft," he inquired.

Shigeru fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Why are you so touchy-feely?"

"Does it bother you," he whispered in her ear.

She blushed a little as she tried to shrug the man off of her, "A little bit. It's almost like you _like_ to get me embarrassed."

Kisuke's smirk widened. He could tell that the girl―no―woman was easily flustered by him. Almost like she may have had a little crush on him, or she just didn't know how to deal with him. He'd admit that he did like to see her flustered.

"_Cute…_," he mused.

He released the girl, who quickly put a little space between them. She ran a hand through her hair as she huffed.

"I'm going to communicate with these guys," she pointed to her swords.

Kisuke pulled out his fan to shield the lower half of his face, " You can already talk to your zanpakuto, impressive!"

"Not exactly," she frowned as she pulled her sheathed swords from her obi.

Kisuke blinked, "You still don't know it's name?"

Shigeru dropped to the ground and crossed her legs. She placed the blades horizontally across her lap.

"I tried after the Menos incident. It wasn't intentionally though, but they sent me away. They said it was too early for me to know," she explained as she relaxed her body.

Kisuke looked down at the girl, "_She's steps ahead of Ichigo in regards to skill and control. It's truly amazing."_

Shigeru took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"I'll leave you to it then, Little Shigeru," he closed his fan before heading back to the one that actually needed training.

Shigeru concentrated on her breathing. Slow breath in. Slow breath out. She could feel that pull from within her. It was stronger than it was before. She felt the darkness surrounding her again. She opened her eyes. The space around her was covered by a thick black fog. There was a coldness in this place. A light flashes a ways ahead of her.

"_That way_," she thought with determination.

She walked through the nothingness to where the flashes were flickering. In the darkness it felt like she was walking on air. As she got closer to the light, she started to feel warmer, and the ground became rocky. A couple of steps closer and the nothingness vanishes as if she was transported. Her eyes widened.

"Whoa…"

She stood at the bottom of an active volcano. Lava slowly flowed freely around the surrounding jungle that surrounded the area, only nothing was bursting into flames. She looked down to her feet and noticed she was ankle deep in the molten rock. She screamed and hopped onto the solid ground next to the flow. She blinked as she noticed that it didn't hurt and her feet were still intact. Shigeru bent down on one knee and slipped her hand into the lava.

Her eyes widened with wonder, "_It's not hot...it's just warm. It feels nice!_"

Thunder loudly boomed, grabbing her attention. She looked up to the skies and noted the lightning that danced within it. The electric phenomena striking the surrounding jungle, but again nothing combusted into flames. There was a pleasant scent of electricity that the lightning left. The lightning then struck the erupting lava, encircling it with a net of blue electricity, before dissipating. It was beautiful!

Something pulled her. A force was calling to her. She turned toward the volcano and walked onward. The jungle seemed to open up a path for her as she approached it, vines and trees shifting out of her way as she walked. She could feel something watching her, something big... but she wasn't nervous. She heard something rustle in the trees, but she kept moving forward. Whenever she had the urge to look back thunder and lightning would echo throughout her inner world.

"_No looking back_," she mused.

A growl echoed at her side. She whipped her head in the direction of the sound. Two glowing blue eyes stared back at her. She froze before she smirked.

"You going to reveal yourself or just stay in the shadows," she called to it cockily.

She didn't expect a reply, but a deep voice echoed, "_Wouldn't you like to know…_"

Shigeru knew that voice. When she opened her mouth to say something the volcano caused the area to quake. She almost lost her balance, but stayed upright. She looked back to where the eyes were only for them to be long gone. Once the ground stopped shaking, she practically ran towards the volcano, something just told her the owner of those eyes would be there.

Once she got to the bottom of the volcano that force that was calling to her was stronger than ever. Shigeru craned her neck to try to see the top of the ever flowing fissure in the earth.

"A little closer," she mumbled.

Shigeru quickly climbed up the side of the volcano. She wasn't even sweating the closer she got to the mouth of the volcano, but the warmth was comforting. She stopped on a large landing just a few miles from the top. The volcano suddenly started to quake.

"_You've finally arrived_," bellowed a woman's voice.

Shigeru shielded her eyes as lava erupted from the mouth of the volcano. It sprayed everywhere as something emerged from within the volcano. Her eyes widened.

"A..a dragon," she stuttered.

A giant, black eastern dragon stared down at the young girl. It's scales shimmered against the light that touched it. It's golden eyes gentle as it took in the girls appearance. It's enormous body wrapped around the top of the volcano. She noticed a large chain that wrapped around the base of its tail. It led into the jungle below.

The dragon looked down at the jungle and spoke, "_How long do you plan to laze around? Get up here!"_

A roar echoed throughout Shigeru's inner world. The sky lit up in lightning as something approached her on the landing. She ducked down as something pounced over her and landed across from her. Staring her down was a giant albino tiger. It's fur white as snow, making it's black stripes standout even more. The end of the chain attached to its left hind leg. It's blue eyes playful as it basically smiled at the girl.

"_You just always have to ruin all the fun_," it glanced at the dragon.

Shigeru's eyes twinkled as she took in her zanpakuto's spirits. She was basically jumping with excitement.

"You two are so amazing," she yelled.

The tiger's tail flicked about happily as the dragon slowly descended to the landing, hovering from the ground.

The dragon faced the girl, "_We've allowed you to see us, Shigeru_."

"_Why are you here_," the tiger circled the girl slowly.

Shigeru frowned at the question, "Obviously, to ask for your name. You know that."

The tiger's deep laugh was like thunder, "_No, there's more that you want!_"

Something felt off. She heard the sound of the chain quickly approaching her. Shigeru narrowly dodged the tiger's claw, his claws still managed to slice into her arms. Electricity coursed through her body.

Shigeru painfully gasp. She glared at the tiger, "What the _hell_, dude?!"

It bared its fangs as it laughed, "_You know to never turn your back on an enemy!_"

"Yeah, but you aren't an enemy! You're a part of my soul," she shouted back.

The dragon sighed as it flicked it's tail, dragging the tiger over to its side. The tiger crashed behind the dragon.

"_What the hell, woman_," it growled at the dragon.

The dragon eyed the tiger, "_Hmm, d__id you say something_?"

Shigeru tried not to laugh, "_Yeah, they're part of me alright_."

The dragon eyed the girl, "_Make no mistake, Shigeru. You will have to earn our name. Now tell us the real reason you're here_."

Shigeru thought about the events over the past couple of days. Rukia leaving and Byakuya almost killing her. She was angry. Angry that she was barely able to do anything. She was strong, but she was still weak. Shigeru knew what she wanted.

She eyed the creatures before her. Her eyes were clear and determined.

"I want to become stronger! I want to defeat my enemies," she declared.

The dragon closed its eyes and nodded, "_In that case…_"

It began to glow and shrank. The light morphing into a human shaped silhouette. As its foot touched the landing, Shigeru noticed the angry red lava slowly turned blue a small ring of blue flames circled the growing form of the dragon as the light died down.

"_We will be your opponents!_"

Shigeru's jaw dropped. Now stood a gorgeous, lithe woman with rich, dark, earthy skin, her hair was black as night, flowing down to her ankles, her ears pointed. Over her ample breast was a armored long-lined, strapless bra. A m-slit skirt hung from her waist, the slits ending a couple inches from her hips, exposing her firm thighs. A sheer shawl draped over her elbows. She wore no shoes, toes and fingernails like claws. A set of horns on her head. Blue flames encircled her wrist and ankles. Black scales scattered around her earthy skin. Her golden eyes twinkled in amusement at the girl's reaction to her new appearance, her thick serpentine tail flicking about. The chain was still connecting her to the large beast behind her.

The tiger chuckled manically, "_Get ready, little girl. You're in for a world of hurt_!"

The tiger also burst into light. Standing on its hind legs as it transformed into its humanoid form. The light vanished to reveal a tall, muscular man. He wore no shirt, showcasing his rippling muscles. His trousers were black and loose. His skin tanned, his face had chiseled features, his shoulder length hair was snow white, and his ears pointed. His fingernails were claws. He too was barefoot like his counterpart. White fur acted as cuffs around his wrist, neck, and ankles. The chain was still connected to his left ankle. Black stripes covering his body. Shigeru looked into his piercing blue eyes that leaked plasma as purple lightning crackled around his body. He grinned, revealing his fangs, his thick tail flicked about.

Shigeru placed a hand to her chest, "Is it weird to be attracted to your zanpakuto? It's weird! Yeah, it's weird! This is _weird_!"

The spirits laughed at the girl.

"It's not funny! I'm having a crisis here! Why are you both so hot," she whined.

Were-tiger, as Shigeru dubbed him, pounced over to his counterpart. He slapped a hand to her back, almost knocking her over, as they continued to laugh.

"_We are a part of you, you know_," he laughed wiping tears away.

Shigeru thought about as she grinned, nodding happily.

The dragon-woman was the first to regain her composure, "_You will have to fight us. Show us how strong you currently are."_

"_If you're good enough, we'll tell you our name! So don't disappoint us_," the were-tiger yelled as he charged the girl.

Shigeru dodged the man. A crater left where she once stood, but the lightning surrounding him expanded, shocking the girl. She screamed as the electricity coursed through her body, stunning her. The man appeared above her, leg above his head, he brought his leg down, slamming it against her back.

"Agh," she screamed as she slammed against the ground.

He circled her and grinned, "_Where's that strength you always use in battle?_"

"I don't even get a weapon," Shigeru tried joke as she gasped, glaring at the man.

The man glared back, "_Why? You barely utilize us in battle! What's the need for a weapon now?"_

Shigeru struggled to get back on her feet. She glanced over to the dragon-woman who had yet to join in the battle. The woman just observed with her clear golden eyes. Shigeru faced the man again.

"_Those attacks hurt like a son-of-a-bitch! But he does have a point…_," she dodged another one of his punches.

He pounced, aiming his claws for her shoulder. She blocked his claws, but that did nothing against the electricity surrounding him. She grit her teeth and punched the man in his ribs. It felt like punching a brick wall, but she managed to push him back.

She clenched her fist, "_I haven't been relying on them. I just enhance my body to deal out damage but…" _

Shigeru channeled her strength as she charged the were-tiger. His eyes gleamed with excitement. She went to hammer kick the man, but he flickered out of the way. Her foot connected with the ground caving it in. He went to grab the girl, but she swatted his hands away before uppercutting him. He grabbed his chin as he stumbled back.

Shigeru huffed as she yelled, "I want to rely on you! You are my partner, so teach me how to do that!"

Her eyes widened as she felt someone leaning against her back. She glanced over her shoulder to see the back of the dragon-woman's head.

"_So fast. I didn't even hear the chain!_," Shigeru panicked.

She tried to distance herself from the woman, but was caught by her wrist. She flinched from the burning sensation that encircled it. The dragon-woman, flung the girl to the side of the volcano. Shigeru curled into a ball to brace herself. She crashed into the volcano and rolled back down to the landing the spirits stood.

She glared up to the spirits, "_I'm getting really tired of being thrown around like a rag doll!_"

The woman looked down at the girl, "_You want to rely on us now? What stopped you from doing that from the beginning? Nothing! _You_ chose to rely on yourself and not us!_"

A blue ball of fire appeared in each of the woman's hands. They're form changed into two pitch black dadao blades, but they had handles instead of a hilts. A white dragon carved into the blades. Blue flames surrounded the blades, licking at the oxygen in the air. She twirled the blades around in circles by the handles as she glared at the girl.

Shigeru's eyes twinkled as they widened, "_Are those bladed tonfas? That's so freaking cool!_"

"_We will show you a small portion of our capabilities, the power you so wish to wield…_," the woman explained as she pointed a blade in her left hand at Shigeru, flames charging at it's tip.

The were-tiger smiled wildly. He jumped over the woman standing to the left of her. He held out his hands as purple lightning cackled, form his own set of snow white dadao bladed tonfas. A black tiger carved into the blades. He mirrored the dragon's position. He raised the blade in his right hand. Lightning charging at the tip of his blade.

"_Don't die, now! We have such high expectations for you_," the man cackled.

The two spirits got closer, pressing their backs against each other. The charges were growing by the sec. They released the enormous rays of flame and lightning. The beams merging together into one as it quickly approached the girl.

Shigeru was almost too stunned to move. She prepared herself to jump out of the way, but it was too late. The attack was just too fast.

"Oh fuck…"

Shigeru's scream echoed throughout her inner world. The two spirits looked at the damage they had dealt. The volcano now spotted a giant hole, the jungle behind it split in two, flames and lightning sparked throughout the new crevice. Shigeru was heavily injured. She had managed to take the attack only by some miracle. She had dropped to her knee, her burned arms formed a protective X around her face. Her shihakusho was in tatters, luckily she was wrapped by bandages under it otherwise she would be flashing her zanpakuto. She huffed as she lowered her arms, blood leaking from the side of her head. She forced herself to stand as she glared at her zanpakuto spirits.

"That.._.really_ fucking...hurt," she uttered.

The spirits however paled after they realized what they actually destroyed. The rest of the volcano crumbled.

The dragon ran a hand down her face as she whined, "_My room!_"

"_Damn, your room! My jungle_," the tiger yelled in her ear pointing to the fissure they put in the earth.

Shigeru was almost amused as she huffed, "You two really didn't think that through…"

"_Oh good, you're alive! I would have been very disappointed if you couldn't take a hit_," the were-tiger said nonchalantly.

The dragon-woman pointed her blade at Shigeru and smiled gently, "_You passed the first phase!"_

"First phase!," Shigeru hissed.

"_Duh, it was all a test. You didn't think we'd actually try to kill you_," the tiger laughed.

Shigeru motioned her hands wildly at herself and the devastation behind her.

"Well yeah! A little," she hollered at the man.

The dragon-woman grinned revealing her fangs, "_It was all a test to see if you can withstand our power. There could be moments in the future where you might find it hard to control our energy output. That's why this idiot kept striking you with his lightning. It was a way to get your body used to our energies. Form some resistance._"

Shigeru crossed her arms and sort of regretted it as she touched the raw skin.

"What the next lesson, then," she groaned.

They both grinned in unison, "_Try to take our shikai away from us!_"

"You're not going to make this easy for me," Shigeru eyed the two warily.

They grinned manically, "_Of course not!_"

"Why are we like this," Shigeru whined, "_They're just as bad as Kisuke!_"

* * *

Shigeru was so _done_ with her zanpakuto spirits. She had been trying to grab their weapons but the two would dance around her. _Literally _danced around her. Shigeru thought that it looked like swing dance moves. The dragon-woman and were-tiger would pretzel around each other gracefully evading the girl as she reached for their weapons. Not only did they evade her, but they would be sure to attack her as well.

Whenever she thought they would just dodge her, the woman would swing her powerful legs out to kick her away. There was a moment where the woman gave Shigeru the Black Widow treatment. Swinging her body around the teens, before using the momentum to slam Shigeru to the ground. Shigeru was too stunned to be impressed, but she'd ask the she-dragon to teach her that eventually. They would strike and evade her with their bladed tonfas, littering her already bruised and beat up body.

She grabbed the chain that connected the two and pulled, hoping to knock the spirits balance off. The were-tiger grinned, using his ankle to lasso the chain over the Shigeru's body. The two spirits pulled the chain taunt.

Shigeru grunted, "You guys are kind of annoying."

"_No, you just suck at thinking of what your true shikai should be_," the were-tiger pulled the chain tighter.

Shigeru grunted again as she shimmied her way out of the chains. She distanced herself from the two.

"_Okay, think! True shikai, true shikai! Ugh, what do they mean! Wait...,_" her eyes flickering behind the two spirits.

They jumped forward for another attack. The tiger went for another attack, his blades cackling with purple lightning. Shigeru grabbed the man's wrist stopping the attack. The woman swung out her leg, but Shigeru brought up her own leg to block. The dragon grinned as she went for a stab at their master. Shigeru cocked her head to the side as the blade sliced her cheek. She grabbed the dragons wrist.

Shigeru smirked at the spirits, "I think I get it now!"

She quickly slid her hands down the blades and ripped them from the spirits' hands. Shigeru took hold of the handles and twirled the bladed tonfas. She distanced herself from the two as she proudly got into the kosei stance.

The spirits looked at each other before smiling at the girl.

"_About time_," the were-tiger huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

They both quickly walked over to the girl. Shigeru stiffened readying to attack. The spirits encircled their arms around her. They were _hugging _her.

"Um...too much affection," Shigeru mumbled awkwardly.

The were-tiger purred as he rubbed his cheek against hers, and the dragon-woman patted her on the head affectionately. They were acting almost paternal.

"_We're just proud of our little one. Even if you're a little slow_," the dragon-woman cheered.

Shigeru was thoroughly confused, "Uh…"

"_We'll tell you our name, but we'll slowly let you unlock our abilities_," the were-tiger announced as he nuzzled the girl.

"_Right! There's no way she'd be able to handle all of our power at once_," the woman agreed with her other half.

They released the girl. Shigeru was feeling so much emotional whiplash. Her zanpakuto was making her downright dizzy with their ever changing moods. One moment they were trying to kill her, then they'd act downright silly, and now they were acting like...doting parents?

She blinked as they each placed a hand on her shoulder. She gazed up into their now gentle eyes.

"_We are…_"

Shigeru's eyes shot open. She looked down at her tattered and injured form. The injuries she sustained in her inner world littered her body. Shigeru collapsed onto her back. She lifted the blades off of her lap and grinned.

"Hiryu Raitaro," she marveled.

Yoruichi, now in human form, bent over the girl. The beautiful woman smiled, her golden eyes almost shining with glee.

"So what's you zanpakuto like," the purple haired woman asked.

Shigeru huffed, "They're so damn weird! I don't know how to deal with them!"

The woman's hearty laugh echoed around them. Shigeru felt so tired, her eyes suddenly feeling heavy.

"Rest, Shigeru. When you wake, _we're_ doing some training," Yoruichi grinned.

Shigeru closed her eyes, "Oh joy…"

**Author's Note: A lot of technical stuff in this chapter. I kind of suck at fights, but yay to Shigeru knowing her zanpakuto's name. I think their mood swings perfectly reflect Shigeru's personality. She's silly, aggressive, and serious when it's needed. What will her training with Yoruichi be? We'll see the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: Hi all! How's it going? Is everything with Shigeru making sense so far? I hope so! Enjoy!**

Chapter 6: We're Off to Save a Rukia

Shigeru was currently having an amazing dream. She was lazing on a beach of a tropical island, sipping on a cup of tequila. She was soaking in the rays of the sun in her black swimsuit.

"Ah, this right here. This is the life," she grinned as she watched the clouds.

The waves splashed against the shore. She put on some black shades.

"I could stay like this forever," Shigeru hummed.

Suddenly, a large explosion rang throughout her dreamscape.

Shigeru woke in a fright, back in the underground training facility.

"Holy hell," she screamed hopping off the ground only to fall flat on her ass.

She squinted her eyes and wiped the drool from her mouth as she looked at the column of light that touched the roof of the room. The girl made her way over to the Shattered Shaft, her body still sore, but she must have been patched up by Yoruichi, as she sported fresh bandages on her burns and cuts.

She whined, "I just wanted to sleep…"

Shigeru came to an abrupt stop when she got close to Kisuke and the kids. The smoke cleared to reveal Ichigo in a shihakusho and his iconic hollow mask placed on his face.

Jinta stared at the teen in shock, "A shinigami uniform plus a mask...Is he a hollow or a shinigami? Which one?"

Ichigo slowly moved to grab the hilt of his sword. The kids instantly dropped into defensive stances. Shigeru smiled and placed a hand on either of their shoulders. They turned to face the girl. She shook her head.

"It's alright. Look," she pointed back to the hollowfied teen.

He pulled his sword out of his sheath, revealing that the sword was still broken, and slammed the hilt into the mask. Pieces of the mask crumbled to the ground as he used his free hand to pull the mask to the side of his head. Ichigo opened his eyes scowling at the group.

"Yo," he greeted the group.

Shigeru gave the boy a small smile. She was glad that he had his abilities back. They would be good for a while. She was sure that Orihime, Chad, and Uryuu's training was coming along. She looked around for Yoruichi, but didn't see the woman in sight. Shigeru frowned a little because she could have sworn that Yoruichi said they would be doing some training before she passed out. Soon they would be going to the Soul Society, but she wondered what the training would be.

Kisuke clapped his hands, "Congratulations!"

She looked up to see Ichigo march over to the ex-captain and slam the hilt of his blade into Kisuke's eyes.

"My eyes!"

Shigeru stifled a laugh as the man crouched down to cover his abused eyes. Ichigo stood over the man menacingly. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared down at the man.

"Since I came back alive, that means you're dead…"

Kisuke glanced up at the teen curiously.

Ichigo pointed at the man as he ranted, "I made a promise to myself! If I leave that hole alive, then I'd kill you! I will and must kill you!"

"Uh, Ichigo I wouldn't if I were you," Shigeru advised somewhat nervously.

She looked over to the green clad man as an excited spark flashed in his eyes.

"Oh, that's fine. Let's move on to the third lesson! If you can knock down my hat with your zanpakuto you get a point! No time limit―" Kisuke cheered before being cut off as Ichigo suddenly appeared under him.

He slashed his sword at the man nicking the brim of his hat.

Kisuke gave Ichigo empty praises, "Good! Even a broken zanpakuto can have such power behind it…"

Ichigo laughed cockily, "Of course if I'm serious! You don't have to say there's no limit! I'll only need five minutes!"

"_Literally, Ichigo! Your mouth is what almost gets you killed all the time_," Shigeru slid a hand down her face.

Kisuke smiled as he pulled his cane out, "Is that so…?"

Shigeru gulped and she felt the man's killing intent slowly seethe around them.

"_Yeah, I'm not part of this_," she took a couple of steps back as she glanced at Ichigo.

Shigeru called, "Hey, Ichigo!"

"Yeah?," he glanced at her.

She smirked, "Been nice knowing you!"

"Wha―"

Kisuke pulled his sword from his cane as he took a step toward the boy, "As you wish, Ichigo. I'll give you five minutes to finish me off."

Kisuke dove at their resident idiot. He swung his sword at the teen, who easily dodged, slicing through a small boulder between them. Shigeru crossed her arms as Kisuke chased after the retreating boy. Ichigo seemed to be deep in thought as he turned to face the man. Kisuke, however, had no intent on going easy on the orange-haired menace. He slashed the mask of his head, a shallow cut appeared on his shoulder.

"You seem _too_ relaxed. 'He's not a shinigami, so it shouldn't be a zanpakuto', 'Even if I'm hit nothing will happen,' right? You really are too naive," Kisuke lectured as he came to a stop.

He pointed his sword away from him, "Awaken...Benihime!"

The cane transformed into its shikai form. Ichigo's eyes widened. Kisuke lifted the sword closer to himself, letting the boy observe it's new look.

"This is, without a doubt, a true zanpakuto," he explained.

Shigeru took in the appearance of Benihime. It was pretty cool looking, "_But my Hiryu Raitora looks way cooler!"_

"_Damn straight we do_," a deep voice laughed.

A woman's voice yelled, "_Shut up! You're distracting her!_"

"_Ow! Stop hitting me, woman_," the man whined.

Shigeru's shoulder's stiffened as she blinked. She smiled as she shook her head, "_God, I love you guys!"_

She looked back to the battle taking place. Ichigo was on the defensive running away from the ruthless assault of Kisuke.

"Shigeru! Please, hurry," Tessai yelled from behind a rock he and the kids were hiding.

She saluted the man as she smiled, "Don't worry, Tessai. I'll be fine!"

Kisuke unleashes another powerful blow causing Ichigo to go flying through some rocks. Shigeru took to higher ground to observe. Kisuke easily hacked off pieces of what little blade was left on Ichigo's sword. Ichigo kept trying to distance himself from the man, but Kisuke would close in seconds later. Kisuke sliced at the tsuba of Ichigo's blade leaving nothing but the hilt in the boy's hand.

"So much for 'I'll finish you off in five minutes'," Shigeru mocked from above.

Kisuke suddenly let out some intense killing intent as he released a fraction of his immense reiatsu. Ichigo darted away from the man in fear. Kisuke appeared behind the boy yet again and slashed his sword at him. Ichigo ducked out of the way, but Kisuke grabbed him by the back of his robes slamming him to the ground. The teen rolled out of the way for the blade as it slammed into the ground. He managed to get to his feet to run again, before coming to an abrupt stop. Kisuke stopped as well to observe the boy.

"Mmm," Shigeru hummed as she leaned forward taking in every detail.

Ichigo grabbed to hilt with his other hand as his reiatsu started to skyrocket. He glared at Kisuke from over his shoulder.

"Zangetsu," the teen yelled.

Ichigo swung his newly forming cleaver-like blade as his reiatsu lit up the training ground. Shigeru was almost knocked over by the force of the blow. A tornado of dust swirled around the grounds. The dust cleared revealing Ichigo down crouching down on one knee, his Zangetsu in hand.

Shigeru chuckled, "_He's so over-dramatic!_"

Ichigo stood face to Kisuke with newfound determination. He quickly took in the new appearance of his zanpakuto.

"Your zanpakuto has appeared, now we can truly start lesson three," Kisuke cheered.

Ichigo frowned, "Sorry, Urahara.."

"What," the man blinked.

Ichigo's scowled deepened, "I don't think I can hold back…"

His arm raised into the air. What little bindings from the seal he was going to placed under in the Shattered Shaft burst off of his shoulder in shreds. Ichigo's eyes began to glow a frosty-blue as his reiatsu climbed.

Kisuke's eyes widened, "Scream, Benihime!"

Ichigo slashed his Zangetsu downward, a Getsuga Tensho lit the grounds. Shigeru's eyes widened with excitement. She was Kisuke's hat flying through the air. When the dust cleared, she could see the crumbling red shield that protected the man. Once the shield completely vanished, Kisuke grabbed his fallen hat dusting it off. Shigeru jumped down from her little observation deck. She hopped over to the large fissure that Ichigo put in the ground.

"You're a scary kid, Ichigo," the man noted as he observed the knocked out teen.

Shigeru folded her hands behind her head, "He's almost cute when he's sleeping so peacefully."

Kisuke glanced over to her as he placed his hat back on his head. She raised a brow at the man.

"What," she asked.

A grin slowly stretched over his face. Shigeru took a step back.

"_I don't like that look in his eye_," a chill went up her spine.

Kisuke raised his sword, "Oh, Little Shigeru~"

"Uh, yes," Shigeru grinned nervously.

She did_ not_ like where this was going. Shigeru took another step back as Kisuke used a finger to beckon the girl over. She shook her head in refusal.

"It's time for us to spar! You don't plan on playing bystander all the time, do you," the man cheered.

Shigeru readied herself for a quick retreat. She did not want to fight Kisuke for two reasons. 1. She was too tired from the whole ordeal from her inner world, and 2. Kisuke was actually kind of scary when fighting. She was always up for a good fight, but just not right this moment.

"Of course I'm not, but..," she argued, sliding a foot back.

Kisuke slowly stalked over to her as he sneered, "I don't mind chasing you, Little Shigeru."

Shigeru paled before taking off in the opposite direction of the man. The man laughed.

"Hey, Tessai! Take Ichigo somewhere to rest. Don't want to get you all caught up in the crossfire," Kisuke called over his shoulder before chasing after Shigeru.

Jinta crossed his arm, "He wasn't that concerned about crossfires when he was fighting the orange-haired kid!"

"Let's do what the boss asked," Tessai sighed as he lifted Ichigo over his shoulder.

"Come now, Little Shigeru! Are you just going to keep running," Kisuke grinned as he slashed at the girl.

Shigeru glared at the man, "Why do I even have to fight you?!"

She went to kick the man, but he grabbed her ankle. Spinning in a circle before sending her flying into a rock. She grunted before jumping to her feet.

"I'm curious."

She glared at the man, "What?!"

"I'm curious as to what you can do now that you've achieved shikai," he said as he studied the girl.

Shigeru scowl deepened, "Fine…"

She crossed her arms as she gripped the hilts of her swords. Her left hand grabbing the black blade on her right hip, her right hand grabbing the white blade to her left. She drew her blades. She pointed the white blade at the man.

"Don't complain when this place gets destroyed," she smirked as she pounced the man.

Kisuke's eyes widened at the sudden burst of speed the girl exhibited. He guarded himself from her strike, but she used her black blade to quickly slash at the man. Kisuke dodged before advancing on the girl again. Shigeru grinned wildly as the two continued to spar.

"Scream, Benihime," he yelled.

A red energy blast came huddling toward the girl. She jumped over the blast, as Kisuke appeared next to her kicking her, but Shigeru managed to block the blow. Shigeru pushed off the man and slid to a stop.

Kisuke gripped his sword and grinned, "Aren't you going to release you zanpakuto?"

"If you insist, but just know I might lose control," she sighed.

Shigeru stood up straight. She pointed the tip of her blades to the ground parallel to each other.

"Twirl…"

She slowly twirled the blades upright as they transform into their blade tonfa forms, a black chain dangling from each of the handles of the tonfas.

"Hiryu Raitora!"

Shigeru brought the blades up to guard her face as she watched the man for any sudden movement as she tucked in her chin. Kisuke smirked at her as he took in the new appearance of her zanpakuto. He flashed over to her sword held up high. She blocked the blade with the black dragon blade. She grinned as she twirled the white tiger blade, purple lightning crackling around it. Kisuke's eyes widened as she sliced the man's shoulder, lightning running throughout his body. He grunted as Shigeru went for another blow with her dragon blade. Kisuke distanced himself.

Shigeru's eyes were wild with delight, "Don't run!"

Her dragon blade engulfed in blue flames as she sent a beam of blue flames hurtling toward the shopkeeper. Kisuke dodged the flames.

"I guess I should get a little serious," he declared.

Kisuke rushed the brown girl with attacks. He jumped around the girl at top speed as he continued his assault. Shigeru managed to keep up with the man's speed, blocking and evading his blows. She used the chain on her dragon blade to encircle his incoming leg, spinning him around and sending him flying away from her. Shigeru huffed, she was feeling the fatigue from her previous wounds. She still wasn't at her full capabilities, and she didn't feel like dragging this sparring session any longer.

Kisuke quickly got to his feet. Shigeru pointed both her blades at the man. The flames and electricity charging at the tip of her blades. Kisuke's eyes widened as the two elements grew in size by the second.

She grinned madly, "Sorry, Kisuke! I didn't spend all that time in my inner world getting my ass whooped _not_ to try this out!"

The two beams shot forward, combining into a blast of pure destruction. Kisuke managed to put up a Blood Mist Shield, but quickly found that one wouldn't be enough as it quickly began to crack. He scowled as he placed up two more shields as the first shattered. He grit his teeth as he waited for the massive attack to die down. The beam of flames coated in lightning faded. Kisuke's second shield shattered, leaving the third one intact. He glanced around the area to assess the damage. Both the area in front and behind the man were scorched by the blue flames. He could still see and hear the purple lightning crackle around the second fissure to destroy his training grounds that night.

He whistled, "To think that I needed triple my Shields for that blow…"

Shigeru blinked rapidly as she swayed from side to side. She has used up a lot more reiatsu than she had intended.

"I guess that's what they meant when they said they'd be a little difficult to control," she muttered head rolling from the dizziness.

She couldn't stop herself from tipping over as she laughed, "Going down!"

Kisuke wrapped an arm around her waist stopping her fall, "I got you, Little Shigeru."

She grinned up at the man before passing out. As she went slack in his arms, her Hiryu Raitora returned to its base form. Her grip on her blades didn't loosen.

Kisuke chuckled, "You two truly are little monsters."

* * *

Shigeru felt nice, comfortable, and wet? She opened her eyes. Steam surrounded the area before her. She looked down to see that she was in a hot spring.

"_Like that one in the Soul Society_," she sighed blissfully.

She relaxed back into the waters. Her wounds no longer aching and healing. Shigeru noticed the clothes she had worn to the shop folded at the edge of the spring with her zanpakutos placed on top of them.

"I'm back in my body," she mumbled.

She heard a splash, and craned her neck in its direction.

Yoruichi appeared from the steam and grinned, "You're awake! Great!"

"Chad and Orihime are done with their training I assume," Shigeru leaned up.

Yoruichi submerged her body across from the other woman, "Yes, and as for you, I have a special lesson planned."

"Can't I just rest for a while," Shigeru whined as she lowered herself further into the soothing waters.

Yoruichi chuckled, "You only have tonight to learn this technique, so not a chance."

Shigeru looked at the purple haired woman suspiciously, "What technique?"

"Shunpo, of course," the Goddess of Shunpo grinned widely.

Shigeru's eyes almost bulged out of her skull, "Really?! Why?"

"I noticed that you were able to keep up with Byakuya―"

"No, that was a fluke. I just knew where he'd try to strike," the brunette interjected.

Yoruichi smiled and swam over to the girl. She placed a hand on her shoulder, "For someone so confident, you lack faith in yourself! It was no fluke, Shigeru! The fact you could even dodge in the first place is a testament to your speed. I believe you can go further and learn shunpo!"

Shigeru thought it over. She didn't think she was all that fast unless she decided to enhance her body, but it would be useful to be able to shunpo. She grinned at the woman and nodded.

"Okay! I'm ready when you are, Yoruichi!"

Yoruichi grinned, "Relax and heal a bit more! Then training begins!"

* * *

Ichigo stood close to Shigeru as they stood by the railings waiting for the fireworks to start. They'd gone to the next town over to view the Fireworks Festival with their friends. The last thing they would do before basically declaring war against the Soul Society.

"Ichigo! Shigeru!," the twins and Isshin hollered as they tackled the two down the hill.

Everyone else paled as they watched the bodies of the wacky family tumble down the hill.

Yuzu pushed a chocolate covered banana into Ichigo's face, "Here! Try this! It tastes good!"

"Yeah! Come on, try it," Karin grinned as she forced Shigeru to eat the treat.

Ichigo protested, "But I don't want it! Why're you guys here anyway?!"

"What? Are you saying my banana doesn't taste good," Yuzu yelled into the boys ears.

Ichigo held his little sister back, "Why're you so loud are you drunk?!"

"Yeah, she's drunk," Isshin shrugged.

Shigeru swallowed the banana she was chewing and yelled at the man, "Why?!"

"You're the adult! Stop being irresponsible," Ichigo yelled at his father.

Shigeru snickered at the boy, "It must run in the family."

Isshin rallied the rest of the group to go to the spot he and the girls found to watch the fireworks, leaving Ichigo, Shigeru, Tatsuki, and Orihime behind.

"Maybe I will go too...can't really be helped," Ichigo sighed.

Shigeru bumped her shoulder into his, "Like you have a choice!"

Ichigo turned to Tatsuki and Orihime, "You guys coming?"

"Go on, we'll catch up," Tatsuki waved the two off with her good hand.

Ichigo and Shigeru walked after the excited group a ways ahead of them. He glanced at the girl to his right. After training with Kisuke, she had stopped avoiding the boy. Ichigo never did get to properly apologize for his behavior, when she revealed her circumstances.

He turned to the girl, "Shigeru, um, I'm sorry for what I said a few days ago."

"I told you it was whatever, Ichigo. You don't have to apologize," she smiled.

Ichigo frowned at the girl. Shigeru blinked.

"What?"

"Don't you miss them… your real family and friends," he asked Shigeru.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Shigeru slowly stopped walking. Her smile didn't reflect in her eyes.

She looked up at the darkening sky, "Of course I miss them, Ichigo. I miss them everyday, but getting depressed about it won't help anyone. Plus, I have you guys now! I'm happy here, and that's all that matters. I'm happy and I want to help you to protect everyone. I have no hard feelings about what you said to me. I mean...you weren't wrong."

She turned to Ichigo and smiled brightly, punching him in the shoulder, "So stop apologizing! It's fine!"

Ichigo slung his arm around her shoulder and ruffled her hair.

"Hey!"

"You're_ not_ an outsider, Shigeru. You're the crazy little sister I never knew I needed," Ichigo grinned down at his fellow substitute shinigami.

Shigeru pouted, "For the last time, I'm _older_ than you! Much older!"

"Details, details," he chuckled.

She laughed herself as she wrapped her arm around his shoulder, "Ichigo, I've had three things in mind since getting here: 1. Stopping you from being a complete idiot, 2. Being an awesome bad-ass, and 3. Making sure my hair looks fabulous while doing it!"

She flipped her hair in his face.

"You fail at that last goal. You always wind up looking like a troll doll after a fight," he teased the girl.

She gasped, "Lies!"

They all watched the fireworks light up the nighttime sky. Shigeru smiled as she glanced at the friends and surrogate family that surrounded her.

"_Yeah, I'm really happy here_!"

Shigeru carried the tuckered out Karin on her back, and Ichigo carried the snoozing Yuzu.

"Why do we have to carry them," Ichigo grumbled.

Shigeru laughed, "Because that's what older siblings do when their parents aren't sober enough to!"

Isshin walked alongside them carrying a bottle of sake, "That's true!"

"That's not something to be proud of, old man," Ichigo hissed.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while.

"Dad, I'll be gone for another week again. I don't know if I'll be back before the end of summer vacation," Ichigo said quietly.

Isshin smiled as he glanced at Shigeru, "Will you be going with him, Shigeru?"

"I can't leave our idiot alone," she smiled at the man.

Isshin grinned, "Well as long as you two are together, there's nothing to worry about!"

Ichigo stared at his father uncertainly.

"Don't worry! I'll take care of everything at the house! While I'm around, no one will hurt my family," the man grinned as he pointed to himself.

Shigeru smiled softly at the family.

* * *

_Seven Days Later_

Ichigo opened his window, "This...this should be okay, right?"

"Yeah, it's alright," Shigeru snickered knowingly as she twirled in his desk chair.

Kisuke had told them to leave their windows open at 11 p.m., but Shigeru made it clear that she would be at the Kurosaki's with Ichigo waiting for the message.

Ichigo eyed the girl, "...But I have a bad feeling about this."

"You should," she grinned.

He turned to look out the window, "The breeze is nice!"

Shigeru caught sight of something twinkling in the distance. A balloon with Kisuke's smiling face rocketed toward the room. It splattered against the boy's closet. Shigeru dove behind the boy to shield him from the splatter as she laughed.

"Ahhhhh," he yelled as he grabbed the girl by her collar, "You knew this would happen?!"

The substance that looked like blood left the message: Please meet at Urahara's immediately!

Ichigo panicked, "Can this wash off?!"

Shigeru couldn't hold back her laugh as Ichigo continued to fret over his messed up wall.

She pulled out her soul candy, "C'mon let's hurry up and head out!"

"Alright," Ichigo sighed.

They grabbed their bag and headed out. As they stepped out the door. Isshin leaped off the roof.

"Good Morning, Ichigo, Shigeru," the man plummeted to the ground.

The two dodged the insane father.

Shigeru whispered harshly, "Papa-Isshin, you'll wake the damn neighborhood!"

"Just what are you doing," Ichigo whispered trying not to yell.

Isshin was a bloody mess on the ground, "You evaded my attack. You're truly my children…"

Shigeru's eyebrow twitched, "Why are you like this?"

"You've only been dealing with him for a couple months. I've had 16 years," Ichigo groaned.

Isshin held up a couple of talisman, "I wanted to give you these before you left…"

"How sweet," Shigeru took the newer looking one of the talisman from his hand.

Ichigo picked up the older looking charm squinting at it in confusion.

"What is this dirty little thing," he asked.

Isshin got to his feet, "How rude! Your mom gave me that safety charm! It'll bring you luck!"

Ichigo froze and yelled at the man, "Why the hell are you giving this to me then?!"

"The neighbors," Shigeru whispered harshly as she tried to separate the two.

Isshin turned to his son to argue, "I'm not giving it to you!"

The crazed man regarded his son calmly as he patted Shigeru on the head, "I'm letting you borrow it while you're traveling. You make sure to give it back when you're back."

Shigeru looked down at the charm she'd been given. She looked at the man, "What about this one?"

Isshin smiled down softly at the girl. He ruffled her hair, "Oh, I made that for you. You keep it!"

She was going to say something, but reluctantly stopped. A light blush dusted her brown cheeks. Shigeru didn't think that she deserved any gifts, but it was a really sweet gesture. She closed her hand tightly around the charm.

She grinned up to him, "I'll never be without it!"

Isshin crossed his arms as he looked at his son. Shigeru hopped over to her best friend. She saluted Isshin.

"Well we're off!"

The two sprinted through the streets of Karakura as they headed toward the shop. As they came up to an intersection, Orihime shot through.

Shigeru waved at the girl, "Orihime!"

"Shigeru! Ichigo," she beamed.

Shigeru ran a little ahead of the two as they talked. She had butterflies going wild in her stomach and she couldn't tell if it was from nervousness or excitement. All the people she would meet, and the fights, oh, yes the fights! A part of her secretly hoped that she would get separated from everyone, so she could fight some shinigami on her own. Maybe have a run in or two with some seated officers or maybe a lieutenant, god forbid a captain. She noticed Chad up ahead seating in front of the shop. She skid to a stop.

"Hi, Chad!," she smiled at the boy.

He stood up as the other two came to a stop to greet him as well. Shigeru pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

"We'll be getting down to business soon," she thought absently.

Uryuu joined the group in his white mantle, like the proud Quincy he is. Kisuke appeared behind them.

"Everyone's here! Great," he smiled goofily.

He walked through the group of teenagers and opened the door to his shop. He turned to the group.

"Come in and I'll explain how to get to Soul Society, but listen carefully or you'll die before you even get there," he explained to the kids.

Shigeru rolled her eyes, "_Everyone is so __over-dramatic_!"

They quickly made their way to the underground training facility. Orihime marveled over the secret base. Kisuke clapped his hands to grab everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone! Please look over her," the man ordered as he snapped his fingers.

The Senkaimon popped into place. Kisuke quickly separated Ichigo from his body with his cane. Shigeru popped a soul candy into her mouth. The other three were fascinated by the body-soul separation. Chad held up Ichigo's soulless body.

Uryuu poked his body in the cheek, "He's completely separated!"

"Wow! Ichigo can you still go back into this Ichigo," Orihime asked.

Ichigo just stared at the group, "Why're so all touching my body? How come Shigeru isn't getting felt up?"

Shigeru leaned against his shoulder, "Cause I'd hit 'em if they dared."

"Go luck finding a boyfriend with that attitude," Ichigo mumbled.

Shigeru slapped him in the back of the head, "Don't want one anyways."

Kon popped out of nowhere. He yelled over Ichigo's shoulder, "Hey! That body will be mine soon, so stop touching it!"

Uryuu and Orihime froze after seeing the stuffed animal talk. Chad calmly took the animated plush toy much to Kon's displeasure. Kisuke grabbed everyone's attention.

"Time for an explanation," he cheered.

Shigeru tuned the man out as she cleaned under her nails.

She frowned, "_I should have trimmed my nails! Maybe I should bite them off now. They'll just get broken with all the fighting anyway…_"

Shigeru looked down to see Yoruichi trot past her in her cat form.

"_How does she become a cat? I wanna turn into a cool animal too! Oh, like a puppy, wait no! A bat! That'll freak people out,_" she laughed to herself.

She looked up to the Senkaimon as she stepped closer to the group.

"It should open any minute now," Kisuke informed the group.

The portal opened and they all sprinted through. Shigeru didn't spend time to take in the dimensional rift like the others, but she did notice that the ground felt squishy.

"Ew, it feels like I'm stepping on a tongue," she grimaced.

Yoruichi turned to shout at the other, "Stop zoning out! Hurry and run!"

The group of misfits sprang forward, running through the exit. The walls began to close in on them. Shigeru looked back for a second to see Uryuu being snagged by the wall.

"It's because you're wearing that weird ass outfit," Ichigo complained as he went to save the Quincy.

He was about to pull out his sword, but Yoruichi yelled, "Don't use your zanpakuto!"

Chad rushed forward and ripped Uryuu's cape away from the wall.

"Thanks, Chad," the bespectacled boy stammered.

Chad said nothing as he slung Uryuu over his shoulder to continue running.

"Wait! Can I get carried too? Why does Uryuu get special treatment," Shigeru complained as she continued her run.

Ichigo yelled, "Nothing's wrong with you, so keep it moving!"

"Shut up and carry me," Shigeru punched the boy in the shoulder.

Ichigo pulled the girls ponytail, "No!"

Uryuu yelled, "Put me down, Chad! I can run myself! Put me―"

His eyes widened as he noticed a light behind them.

"Guys! Something's coming!"

Yoruichi and Shigeru's eyes widened. The girl whipped her head around.

"_The cleaner_!"

They haul ass-ed as the giant vacuum quickly gained up on them. The exit was coming up, but the thing was on their tails. Orihime turned to glare at the thing. She grabbed her pin to summon her trusty shield, to stop the thing. However, the impact caused an explosion in the corridor. They all went rocketing toward the exit and the ground of the Rukon District. Luckily, Orihime managed to cushion their fall with her shield. Shigeru rubbed the back of her head as she sat up.

She grinned at the girl, "Nice job, Orihime!"

Orihime giggled.

Uryuu mumbled, "I didn't think we would be this pathetic…"

He calmly pulled an extra cape out of his coat.

"I didn't think I'd have to use a back-up so soon," he said to himself calmly.

Ichigo and Chad stared at the boy, "_...He brought a back-up…_"

Orihime smiled brightly, "It's all good! No one got hurt!"

The black cat headbutted the girl in the eye. Shigeru covered her own eye in sympathy.

"Did you even listen to what I said! If the cleaner had touched you and not the shield, you would have died," the cat yelled.

Shigeru tried to diffuse the situation, "Calm down, Yoruichi! All is fine!"

The cat glared at her and extended its claws, "Did you say something, Little Shigeru?"

"Nope," the girl gulped.

Orihime apologized to the cat, "Sorry…"

The smoke began to clear to reveal the shabby looking housing and dirt roads. Shigeru turned around to take in the environment. She noticed cleaner looking roads and better looking houses, but so did Ichigo.

"Hey those streets look like the ones at home," he commented.

Yoruichi blinked, "Yeah, that's the one."

Ichigo didn't listen to anything that Yoruichi just said, in his own world.

"Oh, I know! That's where the shinigami live, right," he smiled.

He jetted toward the clean streets. Shigeru chased to grab him.

She was within arms reach, "Stop you idiot!"

Yoruichi hollered, "Don't! You'll die if you get too close!"

Shigeru grabbed the boy's collar as he got distracted by what the cat said. As she pulled the boy close to her as the gates around the Seireitei slammed down cutting the group off from the shinigamis.

Shigeru pulled the boy by his ear so she could yell directly into it, "What the hell did I tell you about running into shit _without_ thinking?! Huh, you damn idiot!"

"Ow, I'm sorry," he whined as he tried to get away from Shigeru's iron grip.

She yelled, "No, you're not! Otherwise you'd stop doing it _all_ the time!"

"I was excited, okay?!"

When she opened her mouth to continue her lecture a huge shadow loomed over them.

"Chad," she questioned as she turned around.

"It's been a long time since someone has tried to pass the gate without permission…" called an unfamiliar voice.

They looked up to see a giant of a man. Shigeru blinked.

"_Jesus, how does one get this big_!," she quickly stood to her feet.

She grabbed Ichigo's wrist to stop him from jumping into danger for the second time today.

Jidanbo gazed down at the two teens, "I finally have something to do. I'll treat you guys well."

Shigeru raised a friendly hand and smiled, "So...you'll let us in then?"

He blinked at the girl, "No…"

"Not even if I ask nicely," she grinned pushing Ichigo behind her.

Jidanbo tilted his head, "I'm afraid not, girl."

"Trash," Shigeru pouted.

Ichigo pushed the girl out of the way, "Be serious for once!"

The giant didn't waste anymore time and slammed one of his axes down beside the two. Shigeru covered her eyes from the debris as the man laughed heartily.

"Attack from any angle, kid," the man demanded.

Shigeru and Ichigo glanced at each other.

"Wanna double-game him," Shigeru grinned as she nudged the boy in his sides.

Ichigo scowled at her, "What happened to 'stop running into danger'?"

"I asked nicely first...now anything goes," she shrugged.

Ichigo thought it over for a second and grinned, "Ah, what the hell? Let's double-team him!"

"Yes!"

She hopped around before pulling out her swords. She smiled up at the giant.

"Sorry if this hurts," she smiled mischievously at the friendly giant.

Jidanbo shook his head, "No, battles should be one-on-one. I will fight you both separately!"

"That's not fun though," Shigeru whined at the giant.

He scratched his cheek and looked away nervously, "Honestly, I'd prefer not to fight you at all, young girl. I'll just battle the boy."

"What," her eyebrow twitched a fiery aura surrounding the girl.

Ichigo snorted.

"Ichigo, Shigeru, retreat! We'll come up with a plan," she heard Yoruichi yell.

Shigeru was going to yell a refusal, but stopped when Jidanbo lifted his ax in the air and struck the ground behind them. She glanced over her shoulder at the wall that formed as a result. Jidanbo went on a rant about the rules of the city as Ichigo yelled at the others not to interfere, but Shigeru was stuck on the fact that the shinigami Heracles didn't want to fight her.

She pouted up at the man, "You're really not going to fight me…"

Ichigo stepped forward, "I'm ready when you are!"

"You're an uncivilized one," the giant commented as he swung down his ax.

Ichigo blocked it with his Zangetsu much to the giants surprise. The giant laughed at the boy. He was happy that the boy could block his blow.

Shigeru sheathed her swords and crossed her arms dejectedly, "He won't fight me…"

Jidanbo started a barrage of full powered attacks. Ichigo didn't budge from his spot as the man continued his assault.

"Why won't he fight me? I'm strong too…"

Ichigo parried the incoming ax, resulting in the wall behind them to split. Orihime, Chad, and Uryuu could finally view the fight.

"It's because I'm a girl. That sexist shit again," Shigeru gasped.

Ichigo looked up to the giant and asked, "Are you done?"

Jidanbo pulled out a second ax and went to attack the orange haired shinigami. Ichigo used the hilt of his sword to destroy the axes and send the giant flying backward. Shigeru unconsciously dodged the axes fragments and debris.

"If he had fought me, I wouldn't have broken his axes," she crossed her arms pouting angrily.

Ichigo yelled, "Get over it already!"

"But it's not fair," she whined.

The giant hopped on to his feet and praised the boy, "That's the second time I've been knocked off my feet!"

Ichigo and Shigeru stared at the man.

"What's with that look? Did you really think you defeated me," Jidanbo mocked the boy.

Shigeru pulled out her blades as her brow twitched, "_I _can defeat you, if you want!"

"Stop that," Ichigo chopped the girl on the head.

Jidanbo laughed at the two, "How uncivilized you are! I'll just use my axes…"

The giant finally noticed that lack of actual axes on his zanpakuto's hilt.

"My...my axes!"

The giant man began to cry. Ichigo jumped at the sudden display of emotion from the man. Shigeru frowned at the giant.

"Oh no, I'm not moved by your tears! I wouldn't have broken your axes if you'd fought me," she ranted, "But noooo! You had to choose Captain Destruction over there!"

The giant slammed the hilts on the ground as he continued to cry over his broken axes. Shigeru just crossed her arms unmoved.

Ichigo leaned forward, "Oh..um, I'm sorry for breaking your axes?"

The man looked up tears and snot running down his face. Ichigo looked like he just didn't know how to deal with the crying shinigami.

"Uh…"

Jidanbo cried, "You're such a good guy. I'm an enemy and you still care for me! Such a nice guy!"

Shigeru jumped on Ichigo's back, "Trust me, he ain't all that nice!"

"I'm plenty nice," Ichigo argued.

Shigeru huffed.

The giant stood on his feet, "I lost! I've guarded the West Gate for 300 years, and you're the first I've ever lost too.."

The man wiped away his tears as he looked down to the two, "Go inside! I, Jidanbo, grant you access through the gate."

Shigeru and Ichigo's eyes widened, "Really? Just like that?"

The gentle giant smiled down to the two, "Yes, of course!"

The other gathered by the gate. Shigeru was feeling a little nervous.

"_I'm not looking forward to who's going to be behind that gate,_" she frowned.

Jidanbo lifted the massive gate open. Shigeru looked on impressed. The gigantic body wasn't just for show. She stepped closer to the opening with Ichigo and the others. Once the gate was completely open the giant stopped.

"Oh, such strength," the others cheered.

Shigeru's smile disappeared as she noticed the man hyperventilating.

"_Not good_," she thought as she stepped forward.

Ichigo followed suit, "What's wrong Jidanbo? Why aren't you going in?"

She patted the man on his side before stepping around him to look in the entrance. Shigeru's eyes widened as she came face to face with Gin Ichimaru. The fox-like captain grinned at the group.

"_Was he just camping out here or something_," she paled as she took a step back, "_And why is he so damn close?!_"

Ichigo perked up as he saw the silver haired captain, "Who is this guy?"

"The Captain of Squad 3, Gin Ichimaru," Jidanbo introduced the man as he trembled with fear.

Shigeru didn't take her eyes off the man. Extremely secret ally or not he was dangerous. She had a hard time not shivering from the man's presence. Gin's grin never faltered.

"Oh, this is not allowed," he said teasingly.

Shigeru gripped her zanpakutos and she glared at the captain.

"_...Here we go_."

Suddenly, Jidanbo's arm splattered blood. Shigeru's eyes widened as she glanced back at the injured giant, who was now missing his left arm.

"_Shit! It really is the fastest zanpakuto! I didn't see a thing_," she gasped.

Gin smiled, "Ah, that's too bad."

Shigeru turned back to the man, eyes blazing.

"You're a gatekeeper. It's not your job to open the door," he concluded.

Jidanbo's screams echoed throughout the area, as a waterfall of blood leaked from his armless shoulder. Shigeru really didn't like how cruel the captain was to one of his own. It's something she never understood from the series. Why were all the shinigami so shitty in the beginning, and they were supposed to be the good guys. They always had the nerve to talk shit about the humans they protect and yet, they were no better than them. All they had were supernatural abilities that made them stronger.

"What.. the...did he do that," Ichigo asked in shock.

Gin regarded Jidanbo as he continued to hold the entrance up with one arm, sweating from the pain of his wounds.

The silver haired fox titled his head, " Oh my! You can still hold that up with only one arm. No wonder you're one of the elites!"

He gazed up at the West Gate's guardian, "But you _fail_ as the guardian."

Shigeru stepped a foot into the Seireitei. She didn't like the fact Gin was rubbing salt in Jidanbo's wounds.

"_Oh yeah...I'm fighting him!,_" she pulled out her blades.

**Author's Note: Shigeru's going to try to fight Gin with no plan! Ichigo is really rubbing off on her lol. The group is officially invading the Soul Society! Drop a review! I like hearing from y'all!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I'm ready for winter to be over! I'm tired of snow! Nothing to report really. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 7: I Came With A Bang!

Shigeru was sitting down brooding. She braided her loose hair grumbling under her breath. Ichigo sat beside her patting her on the head.

"I can't believe you did that," he chuckled.

Shigeru blushed as her scowl deepened, "He got a lucky shot. That's all."

"Aw, don't be that way," he laughed as he continued to soothe the girl's anger.

_Like 45-mins Earlier_

Shigeru was itching for a fight and wasn't thinking straight. Unlike their resident hothead, she would actually use the head on her shoulders before jumping into danger. She did― of course―know the future and would rather make possible countermeasures when necessary. Right now… she was too irate.

Gin continued his talk with Jidanbo before declaring he should be executed.

Shigeru shunpo-ed over to the fox-faced captain stopping his oncoming attack aimed at the sweet giant behind her.

Gin blocked the girls attack, "Oh, what's this?"

Shigeru leered at the man as she tightened the grip on her zanpakutos, "I'll take you on!"

"Shigeru! What the hell are you doing," Ichigo yelled as he followed after the girl.

He quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her from attacking any further, which allowed Gin to distance himself from the two.

Shigeru frowned at the boy as she tried to shake him off, "Back off, Ichigo! You had your fight. Let me have mine."

Yoruichi's fur stood on end as she panicked internally, "_S-S-Shigeru! What's that girl doing?!"_

"What do you think you're doing, punk," Ichigo shouted as he pointed his blade at Gin.

Shigeru elbowed him in the stomach, "What are _you_ doing, Spiky-Haired Idiot?!"

"_No, what do you _both_ think you are doing_," the cat screams internally.

Gin perked up at the teens' names and mumbled, "Shigeru...Ichigo?"

Shigeru pushed the boy behind her as she pointed her swords to the ground, "Seriously Ichigo, back the hell up! I got this! Orihime!"

Orihime perked up at the sound of her name, "Yes?!"

"Heal Jidanbo! You can do that for me, please," Shigeru asked kindly.

Orihime nodded her head, "Yes!"

Shigeru grinned at Gin, "Come on! I'll be your opponent! It's pretty shitty of you to attack an unarmed and injured man, don't you think? I'll tear you to shreds!"

Gin lowered his tanto and laughed, "Haha, you're an interesting girl...Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Of course not, Fox-Face," she scoffed, shrugging her shoulders.

The captain's eye twitched, "That's pretty rude!"

"Well, rudeness is my middle-name! Twirl," she grinned as she twirled her blades upright, "Hiryu Raitora!"

Ichigo's eyes widened at the new appearance of her blades. His eyes sparkled with glee, "Whoa! They look awesome!"

She did a quick twirl around as she swung the blades in front of her best friend, "Right?!"

Gin observed the two teens, "_That one...he has orange hair, and the over-sized zanpakuto. She's a dual wielder...those solid black and white zanpakuto and purple obi.._."

"Hmm, you're Shigeru Kuroi," the captain finally realized after taking in the teens appearance.

Shigeru blinked, "Yeah, what of it?"

Gin glanced over to the other teen, "And you're Ichigo Kurosaki, correct?"

"Yeah," Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

Gin's grin widened as he turned his back on the intruders and walked away, "So they really do exist…Then I definitely can't let you pass."

"No one said anything about _letting_ us pass. We'll just force our way in," Shigeru grinned wildly.

She prepared to flash over to the shady Captain, her blades held high, expression manic, then...

Shigeru did the unthinkable.

She _tripped _over her own zanpakuto, and fell face first into the ground.

The chain of Hiryu Raitora extends to the ground, you see. Shigeru, who still isn't completely used to her shikai, didn't take that into account as she was swinging her blade at Ichigo moments before. So when she went to run toward Gin, she slipped over them.

She whined as she lifted her head revealing her bloody nose, "Ow…!"

Gin covered his mouth as he snorted.

Ichigo ran a hand down his face completely exasperated.

The rest sweat-dropped, "_Shigeru…_"

Yoruichi was debating on pretending not to know any of the human intruders.

The girl got on her feet and covered her now bleeding nose. Her eyes watered from the stinging.

"I think it's broken," she grunted squinting her eyes.

"_I've never even broken anything in my original universe_," she whined internally.

Gin grinned as he lifted his blade, "You're quite…unique."

Ichigo perked up, "What do you plan to do with just a dagger?"

"It's not called 'dagger'," the captain glanced over his shoulder at the two teens.

He turned to face the two as he crouched down slightly, "Shoot to kill, Shinso!"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he hopped in front of the distracted Shigeru, blocking the extending blade with Zangetsu. They both went flying into Jidanbo's chest as they all flew back from the gate. Shigeru quickly pushed Ichigo off of her and flashed back to the falling entrances. When she crossed over Gin flashed in front of her.

"Ah, ah, we can't have that," he grinned before flicking the girl in her forehead.

The force of the flick sent her tumbling back to the other side with her group. She covered her reddening forehead as she glared at the smiling man.

"_He flicked me! Like a child_," she blushed slightly embarrassed.

He leaned down as he waved at the group, "Bye-bye, now!"

The gate slammed down, successfully shutting the group of intruders out.

Yoruichi appeared before the girl and glared.

Shigeru smiled nervously at the cat, "Um..hey there, Yoruichi. That was close, right? Haha!"

The cat extended her claws and swiped at the girl.

"Yoruichi! Why," the teen screamed as she covered her now scratched up face.

The cat huffed as the girl rolled around the ground in pain.

_Back to the present_

They were sitting in the hut of someone, the elder she guessed, while Yoruichi made up a plan to enter the Seireitei through a different method. After being healed by Orihime, Shigeru just sat in the corner sulking. Part of her was highly embarrassed and the other part of her was a little peeved.

"I just wanted a good fight," she sniffled.

Ichigo couldn't stop laughing at the girl as he patted her on the head. He had noticed a while back that patting her on the head, or running your fingers through her hair would lull her. She would basically lean into the person petting her and try to fight her sleep. It was the most effective way to calm Shigeru, almost like a cat.

"_I can't believe I broke my nose...by tripping over my own sword_," she whined.

"Do you happen to know where Kukaku Shiba would be, Elder," Yoruichi inquired.

Shigeru perked up at that.

"_Yay, Kukaku! She's so cool_," she sheepishly grinned.

As the elder and Yoruichi continued to converse, Shigeru started to nod off, then suddenly a man crashed through the door. She dropped up now fully awake.

"_Who_ the hell," she growled, _"I was so close to taking a nap!"_

The man was wearing a bandanna and shades hopped off the ground, "Ah..I got thrown off my pig again."

Shigeru turned to the entrance as a huge wild pig with a bow trotted in.

"A wild pig appeared," she laughed.

The elder jumped up from his spot on the floor, "Ganju! What are you doing here, go home!"

Ganju turned to the elder and laughed, "I haven't been here in awhile and you're already kicking me out! You're scaring the guest…"

"_You're_ the one scaring them," the riled up elder yelled back exasperated.

Ganju glanced around and caught sight of Shigeru and Ichigo. Ichigo was trying to figure out just what the hell was happening, while Shigeru smirked at the man and waved.

Ganju glared at the two as he ripped his sunglasses off, "What the hell are these punk-ass shinigami doing here?"

Shigeru crossed her arms at the man, "I've literally done nothing wrong today."

Uryuu and Yoruichi yelled, "You've done _everything_ wrong today!"

"He got lucky," she screeched back at the two, embarrassed blush blazing on her brown skin.

Ichigo grinned, "Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

"Who'd trust the words of a shinigami," the man yelled as he stomped over to the two.

He stepped up to Ichigo trying to imitate him. Ichigo just stared at the man completely unbothered.

"Yo! I asked you a question," Ganju glared.

Ichigo just stared.

"What's a punk-ass shinigami like you…," the blacked haired man slapped the other a couple times on his cheek.

A vein started to throb on Ichigo's forehead.

"Doing here," he gripped Ichigo's jaw as he glared down at him.

Ichigo punched Ganju across the jaw, sending him flying across the hut. Shigeru covered her mouth as she giggled. She hopped closer to the annoyed substitute shinigami.

Ganju popped up cradling his swollen cheek, "Why the hell did you punch me, Dandelion head?! You tryin' to pick a fight with me?!"

"Dandelion head! Oh, I'm using that one," Shigeru slapped Ichigo on his back.

Ichigo scowled at the brown haired shinigami before pointing at Ganju, "That's my line, you Pig-Riding-Barbarian! Who the hell do you think you are, barging in here like that, you ass!"

Orihime quickly tried to defuse the situation, "Ichigo, please don't! Oh no! Shigeru stop him!"

Shigeru looked over to her friend. She tilted her head considering it before she grinned, "Can't do that! You know how he is!"

Uryuu ran over to the elder, "Just who is that guy?"

Shigeru went to grab her zanpakutos from the other side of the hut as the man introduced himself before he tackled Ichigo out of the elder's home. She just hummed to herself not feeling the need to really intervene. She skipped out of the hut and laughed at the sight of the men on boars.

"Oh my god! They're on boars, not even donkeys, but freaking_ boars_. How did you even manage to wrangle them," she laughed hysterically.

Uryuu and Orihime paled at their laughing friend.

"Shigeru, please take things seriously," Uryuu sighed as he adjusted his glasses.

She wiped away some tears, "I'm sorry! I don't know why it's so funny!"

The two idiots were still fighting when Chad tossed Ichigo's Zangetsu over to him.

"Thanks Chad," he yelled before blocking the blow from Ganju.

Ganju swiped his foot around in a circle creating his quicksand sending Zangetsu into the ground. He quickly kicked the orange-haired boy across the clearing.

Shigeru sighed, "Guess I'll step in now…"

She jumped in front of Ichigo as Ganju was preparing to kick the teen in the gut, catching his foot and sweeping her leg under his other leg. The man dropped to the ground, blinking in shock.

"Now, now, let's stop acting like idiots, okay," Shigeru grinned down at the man.

Ganju hopped up and yelled, "Listen here you shinigami I don't have to listen―"

Ganju paused as he got a good look at Shigeru. Her brown skin seemed to glow in the moonlight. Brown waves that stopped shy of her lower back. Big brown eyes that sparkled with mischief, curves for days, and those kissable lips. He was frozen as she tilted her head to the side as she noticed him staring. A blush lit up his face.

"Uh, you okay there, buddy," she asked brows furrowing slightly.

Ganju took her hands in his, "Please marry me!"

Shigeru and Ichigo's eyes widened, "What the hell?!"

Ichigo punched the man in the nose, "Get away from her you creep!"

Ganju was sent flying again. Shigeru just blinked at the man as Ichigo quickly shielded her from Ganju's wandering eyes.

"_That was...unexpected_," she thought, still caught a little off guard.

"You stay out of this, punk-ass. This is between me and the beauty over there," Ganju yelled as he wiped his bloody nose.

Shigeru sweat-dropped, "I thought you hated shinigami...pretty strange to propose to one that you just met."

Ganju shook his head as he gazed at the girl, "You, you seem different! I can just tell, so please let me at least take you out on a date!"

"Um, sorry but I kindly decline," Shigeru said plainly.

Ichigo cracked his knuckles, "Let me pummel him…"

Ganju was about to say something when an alarm sounded.

"Boss, this isn't good! It's 9 o'clock," one of his comrades yelled.

Ganju panicked, "It's nine already!"

He whistled for the pig he rode in on. The giant hog hopped over Ichigo and Shigeru, headbutting the self-proclaimed Number One Shinigami Hater. He hopped on her back.

"So you're just going to run away," Ichigo growled.

Ganju turned to glare at the boy, "Did I say I was running away?! I've got somewhere to be, so stay there until I come back to beat your ass!"

He snapped his head in Shigeru's direction. Ganju winked and blew a kiss to the brown shinigami.

"Until next time," he grinned.

Shigeru shuttered, "Ganju, no…"

The horde rode off on their noble hogs leaving the rest with situational whiplash.

Shigeru and Ichigo turned to each other.

"What the hell just happened," they asked each other.

Ichigo crossed his arms and grumbled, "Either way I'm gonna beat that jerks ass!"

Shigeru sighed and smacked the boy over the head, "Let it go."

* * *

_The next day_

Shigeru's eyebrow was twitching uncontrollably. One of her more stubborn companions wouldn't budge from the spot on the ground. Ichigo wanted to stay in the town to wait for Ganju for a rematch. She was annoyed with small bags under her eyes. For some reason she couldn't sleep last night. It happens from time to time. It wasn't insomnia or anything, she just had a hard time falling to sleep some nights. It's been like that since Shigeru was around 12 or 13, and because of it she had a hard time keeping a stable sleeping schedule. Sadly, for Ichigo, Shigeru + lack of sleep= Monstress Shigeru.

Uryuu pleaded with Ichigo, "Come on, Ichigo! We don't have time for this!"

"No, I'm staying! I'm going to wait for that guy," the orange haired shinigami stubbornly declined.

He crossed his arms over his chest. Uryuu tried to drag the teen out of the hut. Shigeru had had enough with the early morning shenanigans. She quietly activated her shikai, and silently stalked over to the others. She wrapped the chains to Hiryu Raitora around Ichigo.

Ichigo blinked, "What the?"

She pulled the chains tighter and menacingly sneered at the boy, "_Let's go you idiot…_"

Ichigo gulped as he trembled with fear, "Who're you calling an idiot―"

Yoruichi swiped the boy across his face with her claws. Ichigo rolled around in agony.

"Stop letting your anger get the better of you, or have you forgotten what we came here for," the black cat declared.

Shigeru released her shikai and sighed, "We're here to save Rukia, Ichigo. So focus, dude."

The group followed Uryuu as he led them to their location via a map the elder was kind enough to gift them. Shigeru forced Ichigo to carry her piggy-back as she napped. Orihime smiled at the sleeping girl.

"She always looks so peaceful when she's sleeping. It's adorable," she giggled as she poked the brown skinned girl in her cheek.

As they walked further from the town Ichigo complained, "Oi, are you reading that map right, Uryuu?"

Uryuu snapped around, "Shut up, according to the map it's around here!"

Ichigo adjusted Shigeru on his back, "No need to be so pissy…"

Orihime spoke up, "Isn't it a little weird that this Kukaku guy doesn't live in the village? He could get so much praise from knowing how to get into the Seireitei."

Yoruichi kept walking forward, "No, not really. With their personality they'd prefer better. Less people, more quiet."

Shigeru started to stir awake. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to adjust to the sunlight.

"Don't worry though. Even though the address changes all the time the house is always the same. You'll know it when you see it," the cat continued.

They went further up a small hill. Shigeru hopped off of Ichigo's back to stretch. She covered her mouth as she yawned loudly. She blinked as she caught sight of the infamous house. The house itself wasn't that big, but the giant arm shaped pillar holding a banner that read: Kukaku Shiba, kind of gave away the location. She eyed the Kakaku Taiho that stood behind the house.

"See! You can tell from a glance, right," Yoruichi grinned.

Shigeru yawned, "No subtlety whatsoever…"

Ichigo and Uryuu just looked on in horror, "_He probably got kicked out of the village for this messed up design! Yeah, that has to be it!" _

"Oh, this time it's human hands holding the banner! Nice, nice," the cat mused.

"_The theme changes!_"

As they got closer to the house two buff men appeared in front of their path.

"Stop!"

The group of teens had to crane their necks to look the men in their faces.

"What the hell do you people eat to get so huge," Shigeru asked as she crossed her arms.

The men glared down at the group. One asked, "Who are you"

"They're dressed weird. Two appear to be shinigami," the other commented.

The other man stepped forward and scoffed, "Suspicious people! We Koganehiko and Shiruganehiko will not allow you to pass!"

"Now go away before we have to kill you!"

Ichigo gripped the sword strapped to his back. Shigeru rolled her eyes and nudged him in the side to grab his attention. He glanced down at the girl as she shook her head, signaling him to stop. One of the men caught sight of Yoruichi, and their demeanor went 180.

"Master Yoruichi," he gasped.

Koganehiko and Shiruganehiko allowed the group to enter the manor. Koganehiko led the group down a long flight of stairs as he apologized to Yoruichi for the misunderstanding upstairs. Shigeru folded her hands behind her neck as she smirked.

"_I finally get to meet another female icon in this universe_," she mused.

They reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Please wait here a moment," Koganehiko requested.

A voice called, "Is that you, Koganehiko?"

"Y-Yes, it it!"

"...Seems like we have a rare guest...Well hurry up," the person demanded.

Koganehiko nodded, "Of course!"

The man pulled the doors open to reveal a busty, one armed, woman with wild black hair wrapped in a scarf lounging in the middle of the room.

Kukaku smiled, "Long time no see, Yoruichi!"

Ichigo, Uryuu, Orihime, and Chad's jaws dropped, "Kukaku's a woman?!"

"Who are these kids," the woman perked up.

Yoruichi walked closer to the Shiba Clan head, "I've actually come here to ask a favor, Kukaku…"

"Is it complicated," the woman asked.

Yoruichi nodded, "A little…"

Kukaku picked up her pipe and took a drag of the tobacco. She blew the smoke out and grinned, "Well tell me about it! I love complicated stuff!"

The group gathered around the woman as Yoruichi explained the situation to the fireworks expert. Shigeru pulled her hair into a side braid as she thought about the training with the Reishukaku. She didn't remember all the details about it, but she knew that her reiryoku and reiatsu control were superb, so she wouldn't have too much trouble figuring it out.

"I see..I understand all I'll accept the job," Kukaku declared.

Yoruichi perked up, "Really?"

The other woman slowly got on her feet, "Well, since Urahara is involved I can't refuse, but…"

She glanced over to the two substitute shinigami.

"I may trust you, but that doesn't mean I trust these kids, so I'll be sending one of my me with just in case," Kukaku declared as she made her way to the doors next to her.

The cat hummed, "Of course…"

"Your man," Ichigo questioned.

Shigeru crawled behind him to hide, "Oh boy…"

"Yeah, he's my little brother, but he's still a punk so he's still not good enough," Kukaku shrugged her shoulders.

She grabbed the handles to the sliding door, "You ready?!"

"Okay, sis..!"

She opened the doors to reveal a grinning Ganju as he politely introduced himself, "Hello! I'm Ganju Shiba! It's a pleasure to meet you all."

3

2

1

"Ahhhh it's you," Ichigo and Ganju yelled at each other.

Shigeru plugged her ears with her fingers as she whined, "The lungs on these two!"

Kukaku blinked, "You two know each other?"

Ichigo jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at the other man, "You're that jackass from last night!"

"You here for a rematch you poor excuse for a shinigami," Ganju growled.

Shigeru grabbed the hem of Ichigo's shihakusho, "Please, don't cause a scene…"

Ganju caught sight of the brown haired girl and hopped over to her. He grabbed her by the hands, he's eyes twinkling, "You've come to see me? Have you reconsidered our date?"

"Date," Kukaku questioned as she looked at the girl.

Shigeru laughed nervously, "No! So _not_ interested!"

"Stop that," Ichigo yelled, kicking the man away.

Ganju tackled the boy, "What's your problem? Is she your girlfriend or something?"

Shigeru gagged as Kukaku went to take a seat again.

"No, you idiot! She's my little sister," he yelled, punching the man off him.

Shigeru eye twitched, "_Older_ sister!"

The two continued their skirmish around the room. The others, except for Shigeru, Yoruichi, and Kukaku, dodged the flailing bodies. Ganju launched the boy across the room. The rattling knocked Kukaku's pipe out of her hand. The broken wood hit Shigeru in the face much to her irritation. She slowly started to enhance her body with her reiatsu. When Kukaku went to grab her pipe Ichigo ran by, crushing the pipe. That finally ticked the one-armed woman off.

"That's _enough_," Kukaku and Shigeru yelled.

Kukaku punched her hand into the floor letting off a powerful Hado that leveled the entire room. The boys got caught in the explosive spell while the brown haired teen jumped into the air. Once the spell dissipated Shigeru kicked Ichigo in the head, and punched Ganju in his. Kukaku blinked at the girl.

"Why're you hitting me," Ichigo yelled at his surrogate sister.

Shigeru punched Ichigo in the head again for good measure, "You can't go around destroying other people's houses! What's wrong with you?!"

"Oh, I like this one," Kukaku grinned as she walked over to her little brother.

Ganju picked up his head as he pointed to Ichigo, "But Sis! He..."

"You dare talk back to me," she said as she kicked her brother, knocking him out.

As Ganju drowned in a pool of his blood Kukaku stomped over to Ichigo grabbing him by his bright orange hair and pulling him close. She glared as she demanded his undivided attention. Ichigo gulped.

"And you! This is my home, if you don't like the way I run this place, get the hell out," she glared at the boy, "understood?!"

Ichigo paled, "I'm sorry...I understand…"

"As long as you understand," Kukaku sighed as she released the grip on his hair.

She placed a hand on Shigeru's shoulder and grinned, "I like the way you handle yourself kid!"

"That means a lot coming from you! Oh, and I'm much older than I look," Shigeru grinned.

The black haired woman grinned even more, "Interesting! Now, everyone follow me!"

Orihime, Chad, and Uryuu stood at attention, "Yes, ma'am!"

As they followed Kukaku out the room, Ichigo crawled over to Ganju.

"Your sister is kind of scary…"

Ganju groaned, "She really is...but so is yours…"

"You have no idea," Ichigo shuttered.

Ganju sighed like a lovesick fool, "I still want to marry her…"

Ichigo groaned in disgust.

Kukaku led the group to another giant training room. Ganju ran up to slide the door open for the group to enter the room that housed the base of the Flower Crane Cannon.

"I'll be using this to send you into the Seireitei from the sky," she declared.

Uryuu and Ichigo flinched at the notion, "The sky?"

The woman laughed as she faced the group of misfit Ryoka.

"I'm Kukaku Shiba, fireworks expert of the Rukon District," she proudly declared.

She yelled for the two helpers to pull them up to ground level. It was like a very very old elevator and the men cranked them above ground.

Shigeru hopped up and down as they came to a stop, "Let's do it again!"

"Would you act your age," Ichigo placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her hopping.

Shigeru pouted, "I am…"

"Why am I not surprised," he sighed.

Kukaku smiled at the group, "Impressed, right? This is my personal firework station!"

Ganju popped up next to his sister and added, "Kakaku Taiho!"

The woman kicked the man in the chin. Shigeru tried not to laugh at Ganju's pain, but she was glad that her older sister was nothing like Kukaku because they would have gotten into _so_ many fights growing up if Quinn even dared to push her around like the woman before her. Though it was amusing to watch the antics nonetheless.

Uryuu impatiently snapped, "This isn't the time for jokes! I don't know what kind of expert you are but shooting us with that thing is impossible! We'll die for sure―"

He cut off as Kukaku launched a Reishukaku into the boys face to shut him up. It bounced off of Uryuu's face and in to Ichigo's hands. He ignored the little blood splatter the blue orb now sported. Shigeru poked Uryuu with a stick as he twitched on the ground.

"What's this," Ichigo asked the fireworks expert.

She grinned as she explained the device, "It's a Reishukaku. Place your hands on it and channel your spiritual energy into it."

Ichigo placed his hands on the orb, but nothing happened.

"Useless," Shigeru snickered.

Ichigo blinked and looked up to Kukaku, "How do I give it spiritual energy?"

The stared at the boy like he had grown a second head. She lifted her hand up and channeled her reiryoku into a glowing ball, "Just focus the energy to the palm of your hand like when using Kido! Don't all shinigami know to do this?"

Yoruichi trotted over, "We'll these two aren't officially trained as shinigami, so they don't know Kido, but…"

She turned to Shigeru, who wasn't paying attention as she continued to poke at Uryuu's body with her stick.

"Shigeru, here, has a natural aptitude for reiryoku related things…"

Shigeru blinked at the sound of her name, "Huh? What did I miss?"

"Ganju, get the Reishukaku from Dandelion Head over there, so Shigeru can be our test dummy," Kukaku grinned.

"Test dummy," Shigeru yelled in confusion, accidentally poking the Quincy in the eye.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!"

Ganju tried to take the orb from Ichigo, who thought this was a game of keep away. Kukaku punched the two in the head.

"I told you two to behave," she glared down at them.

She tossed the orb over to Shigeru who caught it with one hand. She glanced down at the orb, spinning it in her hand a couple times.

"_It's so light_," she thought as she spun it on her finger like a basketball.

Kukaku grinned, "Let me see what you've got!"

Shigeru closed her eyes and poured her energy into the orb. Not too much, because she didn't want it to go haywire, and not too little. She opened her eyes to see the stable cannonball surrounding her. Shigeru grinned at the wowed expressions of her friends.

Kukaku laughed, "Yoruichi, I _really_ like this one! Might have to take her from you one day!"

"Heh," the brown hair shinigami grinned.

Kukaku went into explaining the mechanics behind the Reishukaku and the defense systems of the Seireitei. Shigeru, for once, stayed focused on the task at hand, but then again…

"Hey, Kukaku," She called.

The woman turned to her.

She grinned, "Can I show them what happens when they do this wrong?"

"Oh, you're willing to do that," Kukaku laughed, placing her hand on her hip.

Ganju paled, "Shigeru, no! It'll hurt!"

Shigeru grinned maniacally as she let her reiryoku run rampant. The cannonball trembled from the fluctuating energy as it grew larger and shrank uncontrollably.

"I'm pretty durable!"

The cannonball exploded sending the others flying away. Shigeru coughed up the smoke that surrounded her. Her face covered in soot and her braid standing on end. She giggled at the outcome like a true agent of chaos.

"That was awesome," she grinned at the group.

Kukaku shook her head and faced the others, "As you can see, if you don't do this right the cannonballs can become unstable and blow up in your face. Now..."

She snapped her fingers and the giant assistants grabbed the quartet.

"To the training room you go!"

They were all dragged off. Shigeru wiped the soot from her face and straightened herself out as she followed them.

"I'm surprised you're going with. Your technique is perfect," Kukaku commented.

Shigeru shrugged, "Doesn't hurt to practice anyway."

In the training room things were going smoothly for everyone except for Ichigo. At first he couldn't get anything to form, but now it produced a little awkward thing...that can't even be considered anything. In his frustrations he tossed the thing into the instructors face with enough force to knock him out. Shigeru sat off to the side observing the whole thing.

She made her way over to the frustrated guy and placed a man on his shoulder, "Calm down. Getting worked up isn't going to make you magically better at this."

"Easy for you to say. You're a natural at this stuff," he scoffed as he crossed his arms.

Shigeru chuckled, "Yeah, I'm pretty amazing, but seriously, Ichigo it's not easy. Just relax and stop trying to force it."

Ichigo sighed as he took what the girl told him. One of the workers popped up and announced that dinner was ready.

"Finally, I'm famished," Shigeru cheered.

Ichigo decided to stay behind to train more. Orihime tried to stay behind with the boy, but he pleaded for her to just go eat. Shigeru could tell that that had slightly saddened the other girl. She patted Orihime on the head before linking her arm around the shorter girls.

"Come on, Orihime. It's alright," she smiled kindly.

Orihime lowered her head a little, "Yeah…"

They went to eat in uncomfortable silence. Once Shigeru was full she flopped on the ground to lounge. Suddenly, the residence started shaking uncontrollably from Ichigo's reiatsu.

"_Why is it every time I try to relax something happens_," she sighed.

Everyone rushed out of the room except for her. She casually strolled back to the training room where Ichigo's cannonball was going haywire. Kukaku yelled for the boy to focus and refine his energy. The cannonball shrunk and became stable. However, in his excitement the ball exploded.

Shigeru yawned and scratched her stomach, "I'm full and sleepy…"

Yoruichi appeared beside her, "What has that idiot done now?"

"Oh same ole, same ole," Shigeru shrugged.

The cat entered the room, but Shigeru stepped in front of her, "Uh, I wouldn't if I were you…"

"Nonsense, I'm just going to prep you all for our departure," the were-cat sighed.

Shigeru laughed, "Okay...if you insist…"

Yoruichi gave the girl a questioning look.

Shigeru exited the room while something thumped to the floor followed by the panicked screams of said cat.

"I tried to warn you," the girl cackled.

* * *

_Near dawn_

They prepped to leave through the great Flower Crane Cannon. Shigeru pulled her hair into a tight high ponytail. She made sure her gloves were secured before smoothing out the front of her shihakusho. Ichigo looked at Yoruichi's messed up tail.

"Hey, what happened to your tail? It's all zig-zaggy," Ichigo asked.

The cat glared at the boy as Shigeru giggled. She stopped once the cat glared at her as well. Kukaku looked around for her younger brother. Ganju appeared in his "battle outfit" as he called it. Shigeru crossed her arms as Ganju explained a little about his hatred for shinigami, due to the untimely death of Kaien Shiba, their older brother. She felt for the family, especially Ganju since he was young at the time and didn't fully understand the circumstances behind his older brother's death.

"_So many people had such harsh experiences with dead loved ones in this universe...Almost like Tite had a kink for it_," she hummed to herself.

After all was said and done as Ganju declared his want to understand shinigami while traveling with Shigeru and Ichigo the orange haired teen grabbed him by the front of his collar.

"Watch my back," he demanded.

Ganju scoffed, "Punk…"

Kukaku slammed her hand into the cannon and told everyone to get inside. The woman made the outside preparation as the stood in the cannon. Shigeru stood close to Ichigo.

"You ready for this epic heroic rescue," she grinned as she nudged the boy.

Ichigo grinned back, "You're damn right, I am!"

They all stood in a circle with one hand on the Reishukaku. Yoruichi stood on top of the orb, while Shigeru stood between Ichigo and Ganju.

The were-cat spoke, "Everyone listen, don't go wandering around once we're inside. If you encounter a Captain, run. Our objective is Rukia, that's it. Don't take any unnecessary risks!"

They all nodded.

"It's begun! Install your energy," the woman announced.

They all poured their energy into the orb. They suddenly shot into the sky. Shigeru's eyes widened with wonder.

"So cool," she marveled.

Ganju grinned, "It's only just begun!"

The cannonball paused in the air before launching toward the Seireitei. Everyone screamed, except for Shigeru who laughed in excitement.

"_It's like a __roller coaster_," she laughed.

Ganju pulled a scroll from his robes, and explained to keep their energy balanced. Since he will be doing the enchantment he won't be able to steady the input of energy. They nodded.

"We've got it!"

He began the chant.

"Ichigo...you're a little strong," Orihime commented.

Ichigo nodded, "Oh..okay.."

He tried to lower his output of energy.

"Ichigo! Lower," Uryuu added as sweat collected on his brow.

Ichigo panicked a little, "I know! I'm lowering!"

Shigeru tried to help by increasing her energy to compensate for the rest, but Ichigo's lack of control over his reiryoku wasn't making it easy. She furrowed her brow in concentration, because she didn't want to do too much.

"_It might make it unstable..._," she frowned.

Chad called out, "Ichigo.."

"I know," the boy yelled.

Shigeru closed her eyes, "Ichigo, you have to calm down!"

Ganju yelled at Ichigo for breaking his concentration. The quickly approached the Seireitei.

"We're going to crash," Uryuu yelled.

Yoruichi yelled, "It's unavoidable! Everyone, let out as much energy as you can! Make the cannonball as hard as possible!"

Ichigo and Shigeru yelled, "Let's do this!"

They crashed into the barrier. They passed through the barrier but the cannonball dissipated. They were floating in the air.

"What's happening?! We got through, but the cannonball vanished," Ichigo yelled.

Shigeru instinctively took hold of Ichigo shihakusho, "Everyone grab on to someone!"

Yoruichi yelled, "Don't separate! Soon a tornado will form, if we separate we'll be sent in different directions!"

The wind picked up in a cyclone. They all yelled as they were spun around. Shigeru tightened her hold on Ichigo. Ganju was being pulled away, but forced his way through the current to latch on to Ichigo.

"Get away," Ichigo yelled.

Shigeru grabbed onto Ganju with her other hand, "Ichigo, stop!"

"Everyone, hold on to the person closest to you! Don't let go," Yoruichi yelled.

Ichigo grabbed Ganju's shoulder as Ganju grabbed the front of his shihakusho. Shigeru gripped their robes tightly. Chad grabbed Orihime pulling her over his shoulder. Yoruichi hoped unto Ichigo's shoulder.

Shigeru glanced over. Her eyes widened, "Uryuu!"

Uryuu was drifting away. Chad launched himself at the boy and threw him over to Orihime. Chad went plummeting to the ground.

"Chad!"

Yoruichi yelled, "Don't worry he'll find a way to survive!"

"We have to worry about ourselves for now," Shigeru added.

She knew all would be well, and Chad would be fine for now. Ichigo went to reach for Orihime. Shigeru closed her eyes tight as the wind sent them flying in four different directions. Luckily, she was still with Ganju and Ichigo. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Ganju gripped the back of Ichigo's shihakusho as they quickly descended to the ground.

Ganju quickly performed a spell, "Turn to sand!"

They crashed into a pit of sand. The three emerged from the pit coughing up the sand.

"I've got sand where sand shouldn't be," Shigeru complained, spitting out what little got in her mouth.

Ganju just continued with his coughing fit.

Ichigo gasped, "We were saved by your weird magic!"

Shigeru shook the sand out of her hair and the two started to bicker.

"_These idiots will be doing this the whole time_," she groaned.

She paused as she sensed two unfamiliar reiatsu signatures from above them. Shigeru shushed the boys.

"We have company," she announced as she gripped her swords.

"Ho! So lucky," a voice cheered.

Shigeru grinned up to Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa as they hopped down from the building top.

Ikkaku grinned, "Lucky! Today's my lucky day, good thing we ditched guard duty!"

Ichigo and Ganju glared at the two seated officers, while Shigeru just waved.

"Sup," she grinned.

Ikkaku started his ritual battle dance. Shigeru covered her mouth so she wouldn't giggle at the man. He was so unique, and she loved it. He finished his dance, but everyone just stared at him.

"What are you still doing there? I did the Tsuki-Tsuki dance to give you time to jump out, but you did nothing! Ungrateful bastards," the bald man yelled.

Ichigo groaned, "What's his problem…?"

Ganju whispered to Ichigo that they should try to escape. Shigeru stretched her arms behind her head. She glanced at the two idiots arguing before her then to the shinigami before them.

"_Mmm, I guess I won't be needed for a while. If things go as they should Ikkaku will fight Ichigo, and Yumichika will follow after Ganju. I'm not going to interfere with them, but what should I do_," she thought to herself.

"Whatever! I'm running! Shigeru, come with me," Ganju yelled.

Shigeru sighed, "Pass!"

Ganju frowned before taking off. Yumichika followed close behind the youngest Shiba. Ikkaku glanced over to the girl.

"Hey! Why didn't you run," he asked as he flung his sword over his shoulders.

Shigeru glanced up at him and grinned, "What good would running do?"

The 11th Division's third seat blinked in surprise.

"Even if we managed to outrun you two, there are other powerful shinigami here. Plus, I think watching you two fight would be more enjoyable," she continued.

Ikkaku analyzed the girl, "Even though I could be stronger than you, you won't run?"

Shigeru shrugged before getting serious for a second, "If you're stronger it'll be a challenge, but if you're weaker than us then we'll destroy you. Right, Ichigo?"

She grinned at her companion. Ichigo glared up at the shinigami before them as he gripped the handle of his zanpakuto.

"That's right," the orange haired boy affirmed.

Ikkaku grinned, "I see, you're not dumb after all…"

Ikkaku sprang forward to strike Ichigo, who dodged. Shigeru hopped over the two and landed on the wall beside them. Ichigo went to strike the man.

"_They're pretty agile_," the man grinned.

He blocked Ichigo's blow with his sheath as he prepared his second strike with his sword. Ichigo kicked off his sheath to flip away from the man he swung his Zangetsu as Ikkaku countered with his Hozukimaru. Both men knocked each other over the eye, and leaked blood on to the ground. Shigeru crouched to observe the fight as the two exchanged names.

"Hey, you over there," Ikkaku called.

Shigeru blinked down at the man and pointed to herself.

He chuckled, "Yes, you. What is your name?"

"I'm Shigeru Kuroi. Nice to meet you," she smiled.

Ikkaku grinned, "What a masculine name for a girl such as yourself. Though it seems fitting for you."

She scratched the back of her head and laughed, "Thank you, you're the first to say it fits me! If you beat Ichigo, I'll be sure to give you a good fight."

Ikkaku grinned, "I'm looking forward to it, Shigeru!"

He focused his attention back to the boy before him. Ichigo stood at a distance from Ikkaku as he wiped the blood from his eye. Shigeru tuned out most of the banter between the two. She focused on trying to sense the rest of the group to gauge the distance they have from each other, though she was having a little trouble due to the sekkiseki rock that surrounded them. Shigeru frowned at that, but she was able to discern that they were all alright.

She perked up when she heard Ikkaku ask them both, "Who is your teacher?"

Shigeru glanced at her nails, "I'm pretty much self taught, but I guess _he_ could be considered a sparring partner rather than a teacher."

"Yeah, he only taught me for ten day, so I didn't think that was enough to be considered a teacher," Ichigo added.

That just further peaked Ikkaku's curiosity, "Who is he?"

"Kisuke Urahara," they informed plainly.

The man's eyes widened from shock.

"I see...then it would be rude of me to finish you off quickly if he is in fact your teacher," he glared.

He slammed the hilt of his sword into his sheath, "Grow, Hozukimaru!"

His shikai activated revealing the sansetsukon that is often mistaken for a spear.

Ikkaku rushed the teen with attacks. Ichigo managed to dodge them, until Ikkaku split the weapon, slicing the boys forearm. Ichigo used his bandage at the end of Zangetsu to wrap the bleeding wound before attacking the man again. Ikkaku dodged the strike as Ichigo destroyed the wall behind them. Shigeru placed her head in her hands as she whistled.

"Captain Destruction strikes again," she grinned.

The two continued to rush each other with attacks. Ikkaku kept Ichigo on his toes with his relentless attacks and ever changing zanpakuto. Ikkaku paused to gloat, but Ichigo revealed that he had destroyed the end of his Hozukimaru, dropping the red horsehair tassel. Ichigo jumped forward, Ikkaku lifted his weapon to block the attack, but Ichigo split it and the man's chest. Blood exploded from the wound.

Ikkaku glared up at the boy as he huffed, "Damn.."

Ichigo starred the man down silently.

Shigeru stood up and sighed, "_Well obstacle one cleared…_"

Ikkaku lunged forward for his final attack. Ichigo completely shattered his zanpakuto and split his arm while he was at it. Ikkaku passed out. Shigeru hopped down from her spot on the wall.

"He was pretty fun don't you agree," she grinned as she glanced at Ichigo's bleeding arm.

Ichigo scoffed, "A weirdo is more like it!"

Shigeru hummed as she went to turn the defeated shinigami over.

"Let's get you both patched up," she smiled.

After using the ointment from Hozukimaru's hilt to stop the bleeding on both Ichigo and Ikkaku's wounds they rested for a bit, so Ichigo could catch his breath.

Shigeru stood by the orange hair teen as she leaned against the wall, "So what do you think, Ichigo? Think it'll be this easy every battle?"

"You think that was easy!? Look at my arm," he yelled at the girl.

Shigeru put a finger to her lips to shush the boy. She pointed to the giant hole in the wall he was sitting in front of.

"Shut up, we're intruders. Never know when the next enemy will appear."

He frowned but he lowered his voice, "I doubt they'll all be this easy, but…"

Shigeru looked down to see Ichigo's smiling face.

"I know you'll help me if it looks difficult, so there's nothing to worry about!"

Shigeru blushed slightly as she turned away from the grinning boy beside her. She adjusted her ponytail.

"Gross, don't be sentimental," she mumbled.

She noticed Ikkaku coming to. His eyes shot open.

"I'm..I'm alive," the man asked himself.

Ichigo perked up at the man's voice, "Good, you're awake!"

Ikkaku blinked as his eyes flickered between the two, "Why're still here?"

"I made him rest for a bit, _and_ I wanted to make sure you were alright. I'm the one who patched you up by the way," Shigeru grinned.

Ichigo lifted up his Hozukimaru.

"Hey, give that back," the injured man yelled.

Ichigo groaned, "We weren't going to keep it, idiot! We just needed the ointment."

"Sadly, we used it all up to stop your bleeding," Shigeru apologized.

Ikkaku was a little annoyed by their assistance, but Shigeru knew that deep down he was a little happy to be alive, despite being helped by his enemies.

Ichigo stood up and faced Ikkaku, "I have a question for you…"

"What? Wanna know my birthday or sum," Ikkaku huffed.

Shigeru snickered, "I like this guy! One more smart-ass to our mix."

Ichigo approached the man, "Where is Rukia Kuchiki?"

Ikkaku's eyes widened, "The girl on death row?"

"Yep, I'm here to rescue her," he declared.

Ikkaku started to flail around, "How many of you are there? Rescue?"

"Six people and a cat," Shigeru laughed.

"A cat!? Only five? Are you guys serious?!"

"Completely!"

"You guys really are idiots," Ikkaku laughed so hard he reopened his wounds.

"Shit!"

"You're the idiot, Ikkaku," she laughed.

Ikkaku grinned before giving him the directions to the Repentance cell. Shigeru listened closely.

"_South to the 13th Division, then West of their offices. Okay...simple enough_," she thought.

As they prepared to leave Ikkaku called out, "Wait! I have a question…"

They turned to the man.

"Who is the strongest of your group? Is it you, Ichigo," he asked seriously.

Ichigo thought before placing a hand on Shigeru's head, "I'd say we're the strongest…"

"...Is that so," he mumbled as he eyed the brown shinigami beside the teen.

"_She looks tougher than the average woman, but.._"

Shigeru caught him staring and grinned, "I know, I don't look it, right? I could give you a quick demonstration if you'd like…"

She released some of her reiatsu. Ikkaku's eyes widened as the heavy reiatsu weighed down on him.

"_She...she's at the level of a seated officer! No, maybe a lieutenant_," he gasped.

As quickly as she released it, she stopped. She grinned knowingly at the man as she suppressed her reiatsu.

"...You'd better watch out for my captain. He isn't interested in the weak. If what you say is true, he'll definitely seek you both out," he informed the two seriously.

Ichigo asked, "Is he strong?"

"You'll know when you see him...Actually, you'll know how strong he is if you survive meeting him," the bald man answered grimly.

Ichigo's eyes widened, "What's his name?"

"Kenpachi Zaraki."

Shigeru's grin dropped, "_As much I love him as a character...I'm not looking forward to that confrontation one bit…_"

**Author's Note: Finally getting to some action. Hopefully Shigeru comes up with a plan to help deal with Kenpachi. Hope you're still enjoying the journey!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: My birthday just passed, so that's why I didn't update these last couple chapters as quickly. I was planning my happy-fun-time lol. Also, with this Corona-virus scare I will update a couple chapters at a time. We all have a lot of time on our hands, and I'll do my best to bring some entertainment to our lives these next few weeks. Shigeru is back in action. Enjoy and take care of yourselves! **

Chapter 8: Per Anime Rules, There's Always a Rematch

After parting with Ikkaku, Shigeru and Ichigo ran through the streets of the Seireitei. It was going smoothly until…

"Hey! Ganju! Where the hell are you," Ichigo bellowed, his voice bouncing off the wall.

Shigeru punched the boy in the back of the head with enough strength to send him flying into the ground.

Shigeru clenched her fist in front of her face, "What the hell are you doing! You're broadcasting our location to the whole damn Soul Society!"

Ichigo hopped up and stomped over the girl, "Well we need to find him to make sure he's okay!"

"I get that, but stop yelling," she sighed in frustration.

The two continued their run south toward the Squad 13 barracks. They landed in Squad 11 barracks by Shigeru's guess. Ichigo broke her from her thoughts when he started yelling again.

Shigeru yelled, "What did I just say, Ichigo! Why're you so damn hard headed?!"

They passed by an dead end where squad members were hanging around. The shinigami perked up as they witnessed the orange-haired idiot and the peeved inter-dimensional traveler run by. They immediately grabbed their weapons and chased the duo.

"I've found the orange-haired shinigami and the woman with the purple obi!"

"Kill them!"

"Kill them in the name of Captain Zaraki!"

The vein on Shigeru's temple angrily throbbed as she stopped running. She cracked her knuckles as she faced their pursuers. They froze as they felt the blood lust radiating off of the woman.

She glared, "Shut the hell up!"

She lunged at the men. Ichigo paled as she went apeshit on the men. Their screams made him tremble in fear.

"Please, have mercy," one of the men pleaded.

Shigeru's leg crushed his ribs, "Men of the 11th don't beg for their lives, amateurs."

Ichigo covered his eyes as she continued to pummel the men. Once she was done venting her frustrations on her poor victims, she wiped the sweat from her brow completely satisfied. A giant firework was set off in the air.

She blocked the light from her eyes, "He's that way! Are you satisfied now?!"

Ichigo shivered as his companion turned to face him. Her eyes still a tad bit wild as she frowned at the orange-haired teen. The bodies surrounding her on the ground groaned.

"Let's go get him. _Quietly_, this time," she glared at Ichigo.

He gulped and saluted the woman, "Sir yes sir!"

But little did she know it didn't matter if they were quiet or not, a large group of shinigami came charging toward them. Shigeru was going to attack the group, but Ichigo grabbed her by the back of her robes and jetted in the opposite direction.

"Hey! I can take them," she struggled against his hold.

Ichigo yelled, "Are you kidding me? There's too many of them!"

"Oh, _now_ you're concerned about numbers! You weren't so concerned when you were yelling like a madman," Shigeru yelled as she kicked away a shinigami that jumped at her.

Ichigo smiled nervously, "I wasn't thinking, okay!"

"You're _never _thinking," she punched the boy in his ass.

Ichigo slid around a corner and caught sight of Ganju, who was being chased by a horde of shinigami as well. He waved at the Shiba, who pleaded for him to stay away. Ichigo jumped over Ganju, kicking a man in the face as Ganju punched a dude in the face.

Ichigo laughed as he released Shigeru, "Go forth, Little Miss One Person Army!"

Shigeru laughed maniacally as she attacked the group of men, kicking, and punching the men every-which-way.

"_The Squad 11 of the Gotei 13 will know pain...oops wrong anime_," she laughed.

Ichigo and Ganju paused to bicker like an old married couple. Shigeru grabbed a man by his leg to throw him into the crowd, laughing as the men tumbled like pins in a bowling alley.

"What is this woman," one man gulped.

Shigeru grinned darkly at the group men as she cracked her knuckles. They shuttered at the intense blood lust pouring from her body. To them she looked like a demoness straight from hell as she grinned madly at the men with droplets of enemy blood on her cheeks. Her brown eyes wide with glee.

"_She is almost as scary as the Captain…_"

Suddenly, a body fell out of the crowd. Shigeru blinked at the small mousy man with navy blue hair. He looked up with his droopy eyes.

"_Aw, it's Hanataro! The little cutie_," Shigeru cheered, punching a man in the nose.

Ichigo and Ganju grinned diabolically at the small medic. Shigeru shook her head as she already knew what they were thinking as they took the boy hostage.

Ichigo placed his sword to Hanataro's jugular, "If you don't want your friend to die…"

"Get outta the way," Ganju grinned.

Shigeru sighed, "I doubt that will work, but okay…"

The men of Squad 11 paused before they broke into laughter. Ichigo and Ganju looked at the group of men with confusion written on their faces.

One of the burly men cackled, "Go right ahead and kill 'em! Does he look like one of us?"

"What the hell! We weren't serious," Ganju yelled.

Ichigo looked down at the mousy man, "What do they mean? Aren't you all on the same side?"

"They are members of Squad 11 and I'm a member of Squad 4...they don't think much of us," Hanataro answered softly.

Shigeru relaxed despite the commotion. The men prepared to attack the four when an explosion wiped out the crowd. The group used that to their advantage to run away with the small medic. Once they were far enough they looked for a secluded area to rest. They all sat around in a circle in a small cabin. Shigeru wiped the sweat from her face with the front of her shihakusho.

"I wish we thought to bring some water," she mumbled to herself.

The small man introduced himself, "I'm Hanataro Yamada…"

"That's hard to remember," the two men announced.

Shigeru smacked them both over the head, "That's rude! Remember people's names!"

The three Ryoka began strategizing how to get to Rukia. Ganju drew out a small map with no actual roads on it.

"We don't know the way, but we need to find a way to find Rukia," Ichigo announced.

Hanataro perked up, "Rukia?"

Ichigo and Ganju frowned at the boy, "You can leave. We don't have a use for you!"

Again Shigeru smacked the two over the head.

"Ow!"

"What was that for?!"

Shigeru moved closer to Hanataro and crouched in front of him.

"You know the way to Rukia, don't you," she asked quietly.

Of course, she knew he did know the way, but for the sake of getting Ganju and Ichigo to understand that they can utilize the boy quicker she asked for the sake of plot.

Hanataro nodded, "Yes, I know a shortcut to the Repentance Cell…"

* * *

Shigeru's nose was scrunched up at the smell of the sewers.

"_Why does it have to be sewers? This is so nasty_," she frowned.

Hanataro explained the complex sewer system to the three and told them that only the paramedics of the fourth division know how to navigate through the underground system, so there was no need to worry about anyone following them.

Ichigo stared at the boy, "Hanataro, why're you so willing to help us?"

The group paused there as the small man thought it over. He turned to the group with more confidence than he had had the entire time he'd been traveling with them.

"I learned a lot about you Ichigo Kurosaki, and you too Shigeru Kuroi from Rukia…and I sincerely hope that you two can save Ms. Rukia," he declared.

They listened as Hanataro went on to tell them his time getting to know Rukia. Shigeru crossed her arms as she listened to how Rukia would speak so highly of hers and her orange-haired companion. She hadn't realized how much she had bonded with the short raven haired shinigami these last couple of months.

"She seems like a weird shinigami like you two," Ganju commented.

Shigeru smiled, "_Yeah…_"

Ichigo hopped up and marched forward. The others chased behind him. Shigeru quickly caught up with the boy as he declared to himself.

"I won't let you die, Rukia. No matter what…"

The brown haired shinigami smiled as she patted her surrogate brother on the back. Hanataro led the group up a ladder. He looked around and announced that the close was clear. They all climbed to the surface.

Shigeru took in a deep breath of fresh air, "Oh, thank god!"

She blinked as she caught sight of the Repentance Cell. The large white tower standing far above the rest. It reminded her of home.

"_It's almost like looking at the Skyline..._," she thought, a sudden bout of nostalgia taking over her.

She quickly shook her head, "_Not the time!_"

Hanataro announced, "There's no way to get directly under the tower through the sewers. This is as close as I can take you."

Shigeru sensed a familiar reiatsu as the others commented on the tower. Ichigo suddenly stopped the others from talking.

"Someone's here," he declared, glaring at the stairs.

The wind picked up, dust surrounded the area around them. Once the dust cleared it revealed Renji at the foot of the stairs. He pushed his googled up to his hairline as he glared at the two substitute shinigami.

"It's been a long time...remember me?"

Ichigo glared at the man, "Renji Abarai!"

Shigeru just waved happily at the man, "How's it going?"

Renji grinned, "So you do remember me! How unexpected!"

"I wouldn't forget anyone with _those_ eyebrows," Shigeru scoffed.

Renji blushed, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"That they're weird! It's okay we all have our weird features," she grinned deviously as she mocked the lieutenant.

He sputtered in embarrassment, "You...you're, I don't know!"

"Nice comeback, Pineapple Head," she mocked him sticking her tongue out at the man.

Renji turned red with anger, "Why you…!"

Ganju stared at the man as he got riled up by Shigeru and asked, "Who is that guy?"

Hanataro was shivering in fear, "That's the lieutenant of the 6th Squad, Renji Abarai!"

Ganju's eyes widened as Ichigo and Shigeru moved forward.

"I thought that the Captain's attacks killed you both. I really am surprised," Renji called as he stepped toward the two.

He stared them down.

"I don't know how you survived, but it's impressive…"

Renji pulled out his sword.

"However, it's all over!"

The red headed man charged toward the orange-haired teen.

"I said this before, but I will kill the one who stole Rukia's power! If you're still alive, then her powers won't return!"

Ichigo gripped his Zangetsu, its wrappings unraveled at his touch.

He glared at the redhead as he yelled, "Didn't you take her back here to kill her? What's the point of saying this now?"

The two men clashed swords. Shigeru stood close by in case Ichigo needed her assistance, but this fight was between them. There was something that each of them had to come to understand. They both cared for Rukia dearly, and they didn't want her to die. The two were allies rather than enemies. She noticed Ganju and Hanataro running forward. She turned to frown at the men as they flinched at her intense gaze. She raised a hand to signal them to stay back.

"Shigeru…," Ganju asked.

She turned back to watch the two redheads fight, "Have faith in Ichigo. He's got this…"

The medic and Shiba heir glanced at each other nervously before nodding at the girl.

Ichigo managed to drive Renji back into the stone wall behind him.

"Ichigo… is overpowering Lieutenant Abarai! Just what is he," Hanataro asked as his eyes widened.

Ganju was just as shocked by the power the young shinigami was displayed.

"I've been wondering the same thing…"

Shigeru crossed her arms over her chest as she watched on.

Renji looked down at the boy, "Ichigo...how do you plan on saving Rukia?"

"What," the teen glared.

The redhead continued, "If you defeat me there are eleven more lieutenants and thirteen captains above us. Unless you defeat us all there's no way you can save her. Are you sure you can do that?"

Ichigo gripped his sword as he drove the lieutenant further into the wall as he declared, "Of course! It doesn't matter how many captains or lieutenants there are! It's got nothing to do with me! I'll fight them no matter what! If they dare try to stop me, then I'll defeat them all!"

Renji's eyes widened at the arrogant resolve of the teen before him. Shigeru glared at her companion.

"_I wish he'd understand that his arrogance does more harm than good_," she mused.

Renji sent the boy flying back.

"Roar, Zabimaru!"

Renji sent his extending zanpakuto at the boy, sending him even further back. Ichigo went flying by Shigeru into the wall behind Hanataro. She didn't blink as the boy crashed into the building. Renji pulled his sword back to him.

"Are you going to help him," Renji glared at Shigeru.

She quietly regarded the man, "No, this is between the two of you. I have no interest in interfering."

Renji shuddered at the look in Shigeru's eyes. That steely yet knowing look.

"_Something about this girl makes me uneasy...she's holding back her power. I can tell, but it's the look in her eyes that unnerves me. It's like she knows all my intentions…it's scary_," he pondered.

He turned his attention back to the carrot top in the wall.

"You assumed that you knew my full capabilities because of our last encounter. I hate to break it to you, but when we Captain and Lieutenant level shinigami go to the World of the Living we're restricted so we don't disturb the world. We have to suppress our power…"

He grinned confidently.

"I'm five times stronger than when we last met!"

Ichigo emerged from the hole in the wall. His head was bleeding, but he seemed otherwise alright, though he was bleeding quite profusely.

"Thanks for the information! If there's eleven more guys like you then I'll be fine," he mocked the tattooed man before him.

Renji grinned, "You bastard…"

Hanataro and Ganju were shaken by the amount of blood that Ichigo was losing.

"Ichigo...Are you okay," Hanataro asked.

Blood leaked from his head wound onto the pavement. Ichigo huffed as he glared at the lieutenant before him.

Shigeru sighed, "_Of course he isn't. I'm positive he hasn't recovered from his battle from Ikkaku...and now he's losing way too much blood._"

Renji jumped into the air to attack the boy again. He struck not only Ichigo but split the entire building behind him in half. Ichigo jumped on the roof as he evaded the attack. Renji followed suit. Shigeru held down her hair from the gust of wind Renji's attacks created. Renji was getting the upper hand in the battle much to Hanataro's horror.

Ganju turned to Shigeru and yelled, "Why won't you help him?"

"I want Ichigo to learn something from this," Shigeru glanced over to her would be suitor.

Ganju didn't understand what she meant, "What could he possibly learn if he dies?"

Shigeru turned back to the battle as Renji brought Ichigo to his knees.

"You really are stupid! Do you want to save Rukia that badly," Renji asked the boy.

Ichigo huffed as he tried to focus his eyes on his target, "I didn't say I "_want_" to save her...I said I "_have_" to save her…"

Something in Renji snapped as he hit the boy with a flurry of attacks blaming him for all of Rukia's hardships. Ichigo snapped back his resolve to save his friend as he deflected the attacks from the man.

"_He's starting to notice Renji's attack patterns_," Shigeru mused.

Zabimaru had three hits per attack. Once while extending, and twice while it's extended. Then it returns back to normal. Ichigo dodged the first two attacks before lunging toward Renji as his Zabimaru snapped back in place. He raised his sword to strike.

"It's over, Renji," he yelled.

He would have hit the man if he hadn't dodged at the last second. Renji grinned at the boy.

"Like I said, you can't win, period!"

Renji slashed Ichigo across his chest. Hanataro and Ganju yelled for the teen. Shigeru furrowed her brow in sympathy.

"_Oh, I know that hurt_," she winced.

Blood splatter out of the wound onto the pavement. Ganju ran over to Shigeru, grabbing her by the shoulder.

He yelled, "Shigeru, how can you sit by and let this happen?! If you don't step in he'll die!"

Shigeru shrugged the man hand off of her shoulder, "I told you to have faith, didn't I?"

"Why are you being so calm," Ganju grabbed the girl to turn her toward him as he yelled in her face.

Shigeru stared into the man's eyes, "Someone has to be."

She gently grabbed Ganju's wrist and lifted his hands from her shoulder. Shigeru faced the battle again.

"Ganju, Ichigo is arrogant. He has to learn that, despite his outstanding potential as a warrior, he can still die if he makes one wrong move. He lets a couple of victories go to his head, and starts to think that he's invincible. I want him to learn that he needs to stop being so impulsive and letting his emotions cloud his judgment," she explained to the man.

Renji approached the bleeding teen.

"A week or so of training won't always be enough to exploit the weaknesses of warriors who have been fighting for longer than we, as humans, have been alive but..."

Renji went to strike Ichigo again, but this time going for the killing blow. Ichigo caught the blade with one hand.

"But..if one has enough determination I guess anything is possible," she smiled softly despite herself.

Renji jumped away from the teen. Ichigo stood as he lifted Zangetsu in the air. His eyes glowing a light blue.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Renji. I'll put all my will into defeating you!"

The shinigami prepared to strike the teen, but he was too slow. Ichigo sliced through the man's chest. Renji's eyes widened as his Zabimaru was destroyed, the tie in his hair snapped, and his goggles once again split. The man glared at the boy as his blood splattered everywhere. Shigeru looked at the man with sympathy as he bellowed one final roar of frustration. The man took a step forward, blood dripping to his feet. With the last of his strength he flashed over to Ichigo, grabbing him by the front of his robes.

"I never once won against Captain Kuchiki...ever since Rukia left I trained so hard, but I still failed...he's just too strong! Fighting to get Rukia back is nothing but an impossible dream to me…"

He clenched his eyes shut.

"Ichigo, it's probably shameless for me to ask you, but please save Rukia!"

Ichigo looked down at the exhausted man, "Yeah…"

Renji huffed as he released Ichigo. Shigeru flashed over to catch him before as he fell to the ground. She managed to catch Ichigo as he flew forward seconds later with ease. Ganju and Hanataro ran over as she gently placed Renji to the ground. Hanataro stared down at the beaten and bloodied men. Shigeru hoisted Ichigo over her shoulder as she sensed a group of people approaching them from a distance.

"Seems like someone's coming...three, no, four maybe five people," Hanataro announced.

Ganju yelled, "That's too many for us to handle right now! Hurry, take us somewhere deserted!"

They quickly descended back down to the sewers. Shigeru followed Hanataro through the maze until he found a room to treat the boy. She gently placed Ichigo on the ground while Hanataro prepped himself to treat the teen. It would take all of the night to completely heal Ichigo. Shigeru took a seat in the far corner of the room and sighed. She was covered in the boys blood and could feel it soaking into the bandages under her robes.

"_Good thing we wear black_," she frowned at the sticky sensation of the blood.

She glanced over to Ganju who leaned in the doorway.

"We should take shifts sleeping," she suggested as she placed her swords close to her chest as she got comfortable on the ground.

He nodded, "You rest first. I got this."

She nodded before closing her eyes drifting off.

* * *

Shigeru slowly opened her eyes to find herself in her inner world. The smell of electricity in the air and the sound of thunder soothed her. She noticed that she was laying on something warm and soft. Shigeru looked down to see the white and black striped fur of the were-tiger. It's giant body curled around her. It noticed her waking up and dragged its sandpaper tongue across her cheek.

"_Wake up, little one. We've got things to discuss with you_," he cooed gently.

Shigeru snuggled into his fur, "Five more minutes…"

"_No can do_," he grinned as he shocked her.

She jolted up, her hair sticking up from the sudden surge of electricity, "Ouch!"

The were-tiger laughed as the dragon-woman descended from her volcano.

"_Little one, we want to teach you a couple of things_," she declared.

Shigeru looked at the pair nervously, "I'm not going to have to fight for my life again, am I?"

"_No, not this time at least_," the tiger chuckled as he stretched out his body.

The brown-skinned girl sighed in relief, "Oh, thank god!"

The two spirits started to glow as they reverted to their human forms. They each materialized their versions of their shikai.

The dragon-woman placed the blades over her shoulder as she smiled, "_We need to teach you how to truly yield our shikai!"_

"I thought I already figured that out," Shigeru furrowed her brows as she frowned at her zanpakuto spirit.

Were-tiger hopped over to the girl frowning. He placed his hands on his hips as he bent over to look Shigeru in the eyes.

"_You didn't even know that the chain at the hilt of the tonfa is retractable!_," he complained.

Shigeru's eyes widened, "Retractable?! That information would have been useful a couple days ago!"

"_Not our fault you tripped_," the dragon-woman snickered.

Shigeru's face lit up in embarrassment as she dropped her face in her hands.

"Please, don't mention that," she whined.

Were-tiger laughed, "_Broken nose!_"

Shigeru whined for them to stop laughing at her. The were-tiger patted her on the head.

"_Alright, we'll stop making fun for now. Down to business_," he declared.

The spirits led Shigeru to the same landing where they battled last time she was in her inner world. The dragon-woman instructed Shigeru to sit on the side as she and the were-tiger lectured her on their attacks. The two spirits faced each other as they prepared their demonstration. The were-tiger wasted no time charging his counterpart.

"_Firstly, it would be great if you learned the actual names of our attacks_," he grinned as he kicked at the dragon.

The dragon-woman nodded as she dodged his advances, "_Indeed, naming an attack makes it all the more powerful."_

The purple lightning of the were-tiger cackled around his bladed tonfa he went to slash the woman's arm.

"_Tora no Tsume_," he declared wildly.

Even though the dragon-woman blocked the strike with her obsidian blades the purple current still stunned her as it ran throughout her body. She gritted her teeth before knocking the tiger over with her powerful tail. Her blades lit in blue flames as she quickly gained on the tiger. The dragon woman slashed her blades through the air. A wave of blue flames flying from the blades.

"_Ryuu no Kogeki_," she glared at her counterpart.

The tiger managed to dodge the first wave, but the second strike burned him across his chest. Shigeru analyzed the damage from each attack.

She placed her chin in her hand, "_Tora no Tsume seems to be an unavoidable blow. Regardless if you block the blades strike the electrical current will continue on, stunning the opponent. So whether I manage to cut my opponent or not, I'll still do damage…_"

Shigeru looked at the scorched earth and chest of the were-tiger from the dragon woman's attacks.

"_As for Ryuu no Kogeki, it seems to be mid-range but it covers a wide territory...it burns not only the one you're attacking but the surrounding area as well, not really giving them room to evade. Since they have a higher intensity in heat, being blue flames and all, I know getting burned hurts like a sonofabitch_," she hummed as the two continued to fight.

Shigeru noticed that the were-tiger was pretty savage while attacking. He had this wild fierceness about him. His movements were unpredictable, but not completely careless despite the way he took just as much damage to himself as he dealt out. While the dragon-woman was elegant and smooth in all her movements. Every movement had a purpose, but that didn't mean they were perfectly executed, but it seemed that she would still counter and make up for any failed attacks. Shigeru squinted her eyes at the duo. Despite their different styles and approaches the two seemed so in-sync.

"_They almost look like they're dancing…_," she pondered.

They suddenly halted their movements before they walked back over to their master. The two came to a halt in front of Shigeru who just blinked up at them. They both grinned at the girl as they each pointed a tonfa in her direction. Shigeru paled as she noticed them charging the purple lightning and blue flames.

She drove out of the way screaming in panic.

"_Ryuu to Tora no Taifuu!,_" they bellowed.

The devastating blast of destruction broke its way through her inner world. Shigeru jumped up intent on yelling at the two. She marched over to the two snickering spirits.

"Why would you do that! I thought I didn't have to fight for my life this time," she whined as she hit the were-tiger on his chiseled chest ignoring the little shocks she experienced with each hit.

"_We've gotta keep you on your toes_," the dragon-woman patted the girl on her head.

Shigeru whined, "No! You guys just like to bully me!"

The were-tiger grinned, "_Well you're not wrong…_"

Shigeru continued to pummel the spirit even though the hit did particularly nothing to him. The dragon-woman stopped the girl and looked down at her with a serious expression. Shigeru took the hint and listened intently.

"_There's one more thing we have to discuss with you_," the dark woman announced.

The white-haired man, suddenly serious, added, "_You know who you'll be dealing with next…"_

"How...how do you know," she questioned her zanpakuto spirits.

The dragon-woman's tail flicked about as she circles the brown-skinned shinigami, "_We're a part of your soul. We're well aware of your previous life as Katie Nightwood, and your knowledge is our knowledge. For the most part…_"

Shigeru's eyes widened at the revelation. She didn't expect that her zanpakuto would really know about such a thing, but it made sense in a way.

"_Kenpachi Zaraki will be a difficult challenge for you, little one. That man is a monster…_," the were-tiger noted grimly.

Shigeru tried to lighten the mood and grinned, "Well I've been called a monster myself, so I'll be fine~!"

The two glared at her and she gulped.

"_Tough crowd_," she winced.

Dragon-woman sighed, "_Little one, this is serious… have you even come up with a plan to deal with Zaraki?"_

"Kind of," the girl scratched her head, "attack him if he attacks me. Simple but effective!"

The two spirits looked at each as a vein pulsed on their temples. They punched the girl in the head.

"Stop hitting me," Shigeru yelled as she tried to sooth the growing knots on her head.

"_Chances are that he _will_ come after you. No doubt Ikkaku Madarame has informed him about you_," the dragon sighed.

The were-tiger huffed as he crossed his arms, "_That man's reiryoku is like armor. You know that if you're not on his level or stronger it's impossible to cut him_."

"_Luckily, for you, little one, you and Zaraki are somewhat similar_," the dragon added.

Shigeru's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She sat back down on a random boulder.

"What do you mean?"

The dragon-woman dropped to a knee and took Shigeru's hands in her own as she explained, "_You're special, Shigeru. We can't tell you everything right now, but your reiryoku can do the same things that Kenpachi's can do and more. You've done it before when Byakuya Kuchiki tried to sever you from your abilities―_"

"But he still cut me! I have the scars to prove it," she interrupted frowning.

The tiger sat next to her on the boulder, "_Yes, but you hardened your reiryoku over those two points creating a barrier within yourself. You just need to apply that externally to shield yourself from Zaraki if he decides to come after you. Understand?_"

Shigeru frowned, "I think so…"

Shigeru felt a tugging at the back of her head. It must be Ganju trying to wake her.

"_Looks like we're out of time_," dragon-woman sighed as she stood up.

The two spirits placed a hand on Shigeru's head, "_Try to not get yourself killed._"

* * *

Her eyes shot open as Ganju shook the girl awake. She yawned.

"I'm awake," she sat up from the ground.

Ganju walked back over to the entrance before dropping down. He instantly started to snore. Shigeru rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she glanced over to Hanataro and Ichigo. The orange haired shinigami was still unconscious. Hanataro was still working on the wounds on his shoulders placing the white bandages carefully on the clean wounds. Something caught her eye. In the corner, laid the white hollow mask that Ichigo will don in the future. She walked over and gently picked it up. Shigeru stared at the mask as if it had a mind of its own. As she ran her fingers over the teeth of the mask she could feel the remnants of it's heavy, hostile, reiatsu. Ichigo was lucky that his hollow―or rather― Zangetsu was so protective of him in his own violent way.

"That mask saved Ichigo," Hanataro noted quietly.

Shigeru hummed as she placed the white mask back on the ground where she found it.

"How much longer until you're finished," Shigeru asked as she sat back in her corner.

Hanataro got to work wrapping the teen's bruised ribs, "A little while longer, Ms. Shigeru."

"Oh, just call me Shigeru! No need to be so formal," she grinned at the boy.

He nodded before focusing back on treating Ichigo. Shigeru's grin slowly faded from her face. She placed Hiryu Raitora in her lap. As she ran her hand up and down the purple sheath of her blades she thought about what she discussed with the spirits of her blades. She had three sets of attacks while they were in shikai form: Tora no Tsume (Tiger's Claw), Ryuu no Kogeki (Dragon's Strike), and an extremely destructive finisher Ryuu to Tora no Taifuu (Dragon-Tiger Cyclone). All of them were powerful, but she knew they wouldn't be enough to go against Kenpachi. Honestly, she didn't even want to use her zanpakuto's special abilities against the captain anyway. _If_ he chooses to engage in combat with her, she'll fight him with her swords alone. It was only fair…

"_The real problem is channeling my reiryoku to become armor like Hiryu Raitora advised…,_" she thought as she bit her lip.

She didn't really remember what was going through her mind other than not wanting to be powerless during the incident with Byakuya, and from what she could tell that was pure coincidence that she was even able to whatever it was that she did.

Shigeru sighed, "_Whatever I did I'll have to figure it out and fast…_"

A couple of hours later Ichigo came too.

"Ha..Hanataro," he groaned.

The small shinigami smiled down at the teen, "Ichigo, please stay still...you wounds aren't completely healed yet…"

"Where...I was fighting Renji...then," he mumbled before his eyes suddenly widened.

The boy jolted up as Hanataro tried to stop the wounded teen. Shigeru sighed irritably.

"Here we go...Ichigo! Sit your ass back down," she yelled as she hopped up from her spot.

Ichigo grabbed his Zangetsu, it dragged behind him as he limped to the entrance.

"I have to go―"

Ganju promptly sucker punched the teen, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Shigeru crossed her arms over her chest, "Thank you, Ganju!"

"No way you're "okay" if a punch like that took you down," the man commented to the injured boy as he cracked his knuckles.

Hanataro gently dragged Ichigo from the ground, "So ruthless, Ganju…"

"Oh, whatever! At least I stopped him," he yelled back.

Shigeru scoffed, "He deserved it! The injured should lay down and be healed!"

Hanataro glanced over his wounds and back to the hollow mask on the other side of the room. She can sense the uneasiness the mask caused the mousy shinigami. She patted Hanataro on the head for reassurance.

"Let's finish healing this idiot, 'kay," she smiled.

The smaller man nodded his head.

"_While you do that I'll try to come up with a plan for fighting Kenpachi, but I get the feeling this will be an in-the-moment type of thing...,_" she huffed.

She took Ichigo from Hanataro and dragged him back to where the medic was healing him moments before. The girl smiled down at the knocked out teen.

"Idiot," she laughed as she wiped the blood from his probably broken nose.

Hanataro got back to work and Ganju went back to his post outside to sleep. Shigeru waited as she raked her brain on ideas and strategies, but she quit after a while. Back in her original universe she had a "we'll get there when we get there" mentality. No use in changing it now.

Hanataro went outside to treat the sleeping Shiba's wounds when he was finished healing the resident knuckle-head to tip-top shape. She hummed the original _Pokemon _theme song as everyone slept. Shigeru took her head out of its ponytail and shook her head letting it go wild. She pulled a small comb from her obi and got to work on the tangles. She re-did the ponytail and sighed as she leaned back into the wall, she brought one of her knees up and leaned on it.

"This is going to get so messy," she sighed to herself.

She closed her eyes to concentrate on her reiryoku to try to recreate whatever she had done when Byakuya had attacked her.

* * *

_A while later_

Shigeru had long given up on channeling her reiryoku and was now braiding Ichigo's hair. He awakened after hearing Ganju complain about Hanataro drooling on him. Shigeru threw his robes at him so he could get dressed. She snickered when he didn't notice the braids in his hair.

"You're so loud, Ganju! Let him rest," she beamed as she exited the room.

Ichigo exited the room after her, "Yeah, he healed your wounds, so give the kid a break."

Ganju stared at the teen and Shigeru covered her mouth to contain her giggles.

He pointed at the boy, "What's up with the hair?"

"What do you mean," Ichigo asked as he ran a hand through his hair.

His vein popped out of his head before he tackled Shigeru.

"Why you little..!"

"What? They're cute!"

"No! It's ridiculous!"

After Hanataro woke up and took some special pill to re-energize himself they went back up to the surface. They climbed back up to where the battle with Renji and Ichigo took place.

"Weird, you'd think they'd place someone here to guard the place," Ganju commented.

Shigeru grinned, "Shitty security!"

Ganju commented about the whereabouts of the others. Shigeru could feel their reiatsu a little better. She wasn't too concerned, because she knew they'd be okay. Chad will get a little banged up, but luckily he'll be going against Shunsui. Orihime and Uryuu were probably going to be hella traumatized but they were going to be fine against Mayuri. She was a little sad she wouldn't see Uryuu's epic attack, but she couldn't complain. Mayuri kind of freaked her out, and she was glad she was nowhere near the mad scientist.

They ran up the stairs that Renji was protecting yesterday much to Shigeru annoyance. What was with the Soul Society and the stairs?

"_I get that it's called the Repentance Cell, but why does everyone have to suffer through the stairs to get there! Trash_," she whined internally.

"Ganju, carry me! I hate stairs," Shigeru whined.

Ganju looked like he was considering doing it until Ichigo butted in.

"Don't do it, man! She's spoiled enough," Ichigo stated plainly.

Shigeru pouted, "I am not!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes as they continued up the stairs, "Stop whining! We're almost to the top!"

They reached the top landing of the stairs. Shigeru grit her teeth and scowled as they continued to run ahead.

"Good, no guards! We'll just charge in there―"

Shigeru's eyes widened as heavy and savage reiatsu pounded down on the group. She broke into a light sweat, but she quickly regained her composure. Glancing over to the boys she noticed that they were trembling from the monstrous reiatsu being released.

"_I knew this would be something, but I've never felt such intense reiatsu_," she frowned.

Ganju yelled, "What the hell? Who is emitting this ridiculously high reiatsu?!"

Ichigo seemed too stunned for words before he forced himself to speak, "Dammit! We have to run! Someone seriously strong is nearby! Before they find us let's get as far away as we can!"

Ganju and Hanataro nodded and they followed after the leader. Shigeru frowned as she followed after the group.

"_He's going to find us anyway…_," she gritted her teeth.

* * *

_On the roofs above_

The wind blew the silhouette of the figure crouching down. He had waited patiently for the ones he wanted to fight. Bell chimed in the wind.

The man grinned, "They're finally here. Now, who are the two he mentioned?"

**Author's Note: Kind of a short chapter, I know! Now how will Shigeru deal with Kenpachi?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Yay, Shigeru finally gets a challenge where she can't be a passive observer. Knowing Kenpachi either he'll come after her or she'll go over-protective sister mode to defend Ichigo. Either way, enjoy!**

Chapter 9: The Monsters Have Come Out to Play

Kenpachi's reiatsu was stifling. The hairs on the back of Shigeru's neck were standing on end as the group tried to avoid the one giving off the monstrous reiatsu. It felt like the man was directly behind her with his sword at her neck, his blood lust filling her with extreme dread. She bit her lip to snap her out of the unusual panic her body was in. Running forward until she and Ichigo were side by side.

"_Fuck! I'm snapping my body out of shock, but this reiatsu is just too heavy,_" she frowned as she wiped the blood from her lip.

She heard a loud thump and turned to see Hanataro on the ground already at his limit from being exposed to the savage energy. Ganju ran back to toss the boy over his shoulders as they continued to run.

Kenpachi gazed down at the group of Ryoka and AWOL shinigami from above.

He looked at Hanataro.

"Not him…"

He looked at Ganju.

"Not him either."

He looked at Ichigo and his eyes widened with glee.

"That's one."

His eyes landed on Shigeru and he grinned widely.

Shigeru's eyes widened as a sudden chill went down her back, her blood running cold.

"You make two…," a gruff voice whispered in her ear.

She quickly pulled out her swords, turning on her heel to glare up to the imposing captain. Ichigo was frozen in place by the presence of the monstrous man.

Kenpachi grinned down at Ichigo, "What's wrong with you?..."

The captain flashed behind the two shinigami.

"Don't just stand there and stare…"

Shigeru's eyes widened as it felt like she was stabbed through her chest. She clutched her chest tightly and gasped loudly. She glanced over to Ichigo to see him hyperventilating as he trembled from the 11th Squad's Captain blood lust.

Shigeru grit her teeth, "_All of that from only his intent to kill us! Ugh, I thought this shit was cool when I was watching the anime, but experiencing this is fucking terrifying!"_

She turned to glare at the giant man behind her, but took a step back as he towered over her. Shigeru had to crane her neck to look his in the face. She quickly took in the man's appearance. The tall, muscular man was too unreal. She glanced over his chiseled face, admiring his thin scar that ran down the left side of his face, and eyeing his iconic eye patch that was constantly eating away at his enormous reiatsu. Her eyes landed on his spiked hair as well as the little golden bells at every tip. She regretted to say that she was a little starstruck, forgetting the fear and dread she felt previously. Despite the fact that Kenpachi Zaraki was absolutely terrifying, he was still one of her favorites from the _Bleach-verse_. She also knew that Yachiru was clinging to his back at the moment, even though she couldn't see her, but she could sense her reiatsu.

He gazed down at her with his green eye, "Are you Shigeru Kuroi?"

"Yes…," she nodded, acknowledging the man.

He looked her over for a second. Kenpachi expected the brown-haired teen to tremble under his penetrating gaze, but to his amusement she was the calmest of the bunch as the fierceness in her eyes didn't waver.

"_Interesting…_," he mused internally.

Kenpachi glanced over to Ichigo, who was trying to calm himself from the sudden rush of adrenaline.

"Are you Ichigo Kurosaki," he asked the teen.

Ichigo huffed and glanced over his shoulder, "How do you know our names? Who are you?!"

"Oh, Ikkaku didn't tell you," Kenpachi asked.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he turned to face the behemoth of a man behind him. Kenpachi grinned at the group.

"I am the Captain of Squad 11, Kenpachi Zaraki. I've come here to _kill_ you," he declared gleefully.

Shigeru grabbed Ichigo and distanced them from the captain instinctively. Ichigo was too lost in thought to notice Shigeru shunpo. She didn't like the man looming over them.

"Ho, you've got good survival instincts," the captain noted as he grinned at the girl.

He turned to address Ichigo, "You on the other hand...I've just told you I'm here to kill you, but you haven't reacted. Does that mean you're ready to start this?"

Ichigo shuddered as his hand instinctively went to the handle of his blade. Shigeru grabbed Ichigo by the sleeve. His head snapped to the girl as she pointed her chin in the direction of their companions, her eyes never leaving the bell wearing lunatic before them. Ichigo gasped as he saw the condition that the two were in, especially Hanataro, who was drooling unresponsively on the ground.

"Hanataro," Ichigo yelled in concern.

He was about to run to his aid when Ganju stopped him.

He huffed as he struggled to stay on his feet, "Don't be stupid, Ichigo...we're just a little stunned by the reiatsu. We'll be fine! Focus on what's in front of you!"

At that moment Yachiru popped up, pushing Kenpachi's head to the side.

"Oh! He's drooling," the small pink haired girl announced.

She shunpo-ed on to Ichigo's shoulder as she shielded her eyes from the sun, zanpakuto in hand.

"Wow! Poor thing! Kenny really scared him," she commented.

Ichigo gasped as he swatted the girl off of him. Yachiru jumped back to her adoptive father and pouted.

"He got angry…," she frowned sadly.

Kenpachi blinked down at his lieutenant, "That's your fault, stupid…"

"Ah, don't feel bad! He's always cranky," Shigeru giggled but covered her mouth to stop herself.

She tried and failed not to smile in front of the two before her. It wasn't the time to be her unusual silly self. She didn't have the luxury at the moment, but it didn't stop Yachiru from grinning happily at her.

Yachiru pointed to Shigeru as she nudged Kenpachi in the shin. She whispered, "Kenny, I like her!"

Kenpachi grinned as he eyed Shigeru, humming to himself. Ichigo hopped in front of Shigeru with his sword drawn.

"Ganju," he yelled, grabbing the man's attention, "grab Hanataro and get outta here!"

Ganju blinked at the boy's demand and before he could refuse Ichigo continued.

"I'll hold this guy off! You go rescue Rukia! Shigeru will go with you," he declared.

Shigeru frowned as she quickly glanced at the overprotective teen, "Uhh, no I won't!"

"This isn't up for debate, Shigeru! Go!"

She turned to Ganju and smiled. She calmly ordered, "Take Hanataro. I'll stay with Ichigo. We'll be fine."

"But...but by yourself," the Shiba heir was conflicted.

She looked the man in the eyes. He quickly calmed down after seeing the calmness in her eyes. He gulped before nodding. Ganju quickly grabbed the small male and took off. She turned to face their opponent as Ichigo glared at his companion.

"Oh, don't give me that shit! I'm staying! End of discussion, now focus," Shigeru glared back at the teen.

Shigeru stood next to him dropping into a fighting stance with her swords raised. Ichigo turned to face Kenpachi and Yachiru, both shocked and relieved that neither chased after the others.

His grip tightened on Zangetsu's hilt, "That's surprising neither of you are chasing them. Isn't your objective to stop us?"

"For the last time, I'm here to fight the two of you," Kenpachi reiterated as he stared the boy down.

The captain grinned, "I don't give a damn about them or Kuchiki! They can die anywhere for all I care!"

Ichigo grit his teeth, "That's good, you bastard!"

Kenpachi took in the orange-haired teens stance. Ichigo huffed as he was still having a hard time dealing with the immense force of the man's reiatsu, but the captain was slightly impressed nonetheless.

"Hm, not bad," the captain declared, "Your stance is good. There's a lot of openings, but it's high in reiatsu. Our lieutenants shouldn't be a match for you. No wonder Ikkaku lost. And you..."

He glanced over to Shigeru. She was more impressive than her orange-haired companion. Her stance was strong with little openings. Unlike Ichigo, she had adjusted to the man's dreadful spiritual energy ages ago. Her eyes had the same gleam as a predator watching its prey. It gave the man chills. It's been ages since he'd seen a female warrior with such ferocity. Despite her efforts to conceal her reiatsu Kenpachi's instincts were telling him that this woman was holding back an immense and savage power.

"...You... I'm looking forward to killing," he declared with glee as he stared at the girl.

Shigeru furrowed her brows, "Uh, thanks...I guess?"

Kenpachi's grin widened and he observed the two, "Even though you're weaker than me how about I give you a chance."

He opened the front of his shihakusho to expose his chest to the two.

"Cut me anywhere you want and don't hold back!"

Ichigo's eyes widened, "What?"

Shigeru frowned as she focused on the man in front of them, "_...What should I do_?"

"What the hell are you talking about?! I'm not going to attack an unarmed person! Do you think I'm stupid," Ichigo yelled back at the man.

Kenpachi laughed at the teen, "No, I don't think you're stupid. This is _charity_. A handicap. It's nice and all that you don't want to attack an unarmed person, but save that for someone else."

The man's blood lust intensified as he looked down at the boy with a chilling eye.

"Killing and being killed, they're just ways to pass the time," he declared plainly.

Ichigo's eyes widened from terror. Shigeru glanced over to the boy.

"_This is the exact reason why I wanted you to learn to think before jumping head first into battles. Kenpachi is freaking you out_," she tightened her grip on her Hiryu Raitora.

Kenpachi egged the two on, "Now come on! Neck, stomach, eye, anywhere! It'll be even better if you kill me with one blow!"

Ichigo couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The captain yelled, "What are you waiting for?! C'mon!"

"You asked for it! Don't regret it later," the teen yelled as he charged the man.

The blade was stopped by the man's hardened skin. Ichigo froze in confusion as his hands bled from the blow he tried to inflict on the captain. Kenpachi glared down at the boy in disappointment.

"That's it…," the tall captain frowned.

He unsheathed his long zanpakuto as he brushed away Zangetsu.

"Now it's my turn...don't die _too _quickly!"

Ichigo jumped back to his previous spot next to Shigeru.

"_He pushed Zangetsu away with his bare hand! He's a monster_," he panicked.

Yachiru flashed under the boy, "It's useless, Ichi!"

Ichigo flinched at the sudden appearance of the small girl.

"Ichi's sword won't work against Kenny because a sword like that is the same as a blade-less sword against Kenny," she explained innocently.

"What," Ichigo asked.

Shigeru glanced over to her confused brother before looking back to Kenpachi.

"Ichigo, I'll tell you why you can't injure him," Shigeru announced, gaining the attention of her ally and enemies.

Yachiru hopped on Shigeru's back, "Shi-Shi, you really know why?"

"Yeah, I got the basic idea," Shigeru smiled as she petted the girl on her head.

She turned to face Kenpachi as he waited for the girl's explanation as she grabbed Yachiru and placed her gently back to the ground.

"When two spiritual beings collide, the weaker side will get hurt. That's really all there is to it," she explained as she faced Ichigo.

She pointed to Zangetsu, "So basically, compared to your zanpakuto with the sole purpose of killing by concentrating one's reiatsu…"

Shigeru pointed to Kenpachi.

"The amount of reiatsu he lets out subconsciously is _way_ stronger…"

Kenpachi grinned at the two, especially Ichigo's shocked expression, "Simple, right?"

Shigeru could practically hear Ichigo's heart beating out of his chest from the information that he received.

"_Then...then how are we supposed to go against this guy? He's a monster...Shigeru! I've got to get Shigeru out of here before it's too late_," Ichigo trembled as he started to panic.

Shigeru quickly noticed the boy begin to hyperventilate again. She sheaths her white blade before pulling her hand back. She slapped the boy across the face so hard his face snapped to the side. The sound of flesh meeting flesh bounced off the walls that surrounded them. Ichigo slowly turned to the brown shinigami.

"Shi...Shigeru," he mumbled.

"Get your shit together! Now's not the time to panic. We'll find a way to beat him," she hissed.

He nodded with uncertainty. She quickly pulled her white blade back out of its sheath.

"Hmph, I can't believe I camped out all night for this…"

Shigeru glared at the bell wearing captain.

"It's so sad, it's funny," he declared as he raised his sword above his head.

He glared down at the two.

"Now, Ryoka...at least make a little dent in this blade…"

Ichigo and Shigeru decided to take evasive action as they ran through the maze-like structure of the surrounding area. Kenpachi was hot on their heels as he went to strike the orange-haired teen. Ichigo blocked the giant man's blow with his Zangetsu, but was struggling to keep up with the man's immense strength. Shigeru took the opportunity to kick the captain in his exposed ribs. She grunted as she winced from the impact. The blow sent Kenpachi back a couple feet, giving Ichigo the space he needed to retreat.

Shigeru's foot throbbed, "_It's like hitting a steel wall_!"

She ran after Ichigo as Kenpachi laughed maniacally behind them.

"Running away again," he yelled as he quickly ganged up on the retreating duo.

Ichigo frowned as he gripped his shaking hand berating himself while Shigeru tried to think up a plan. She shunpo-ed over to Ichigo, before flashing somewhere for the boy to gain his composure.

"_Even though I'm enhancing my body with my reiatsu it's almost impossible to push the man back! Not to mention, I think I just sprained my foot with that last hit! We can't keep running away_," she thought quickly.

"Ichigo," she called out to her friend.

He turned to look at her as he focused to catch his breath.

"We can't keep running! We're going to have to fight him head on," she declared.

Kenpachi came crashing through the wall next to him. The debris cut Shigeru's cheek, but she ignored the stinging sensation from it.

"Stop running. I don't like playing hide-n-seek with weaklings," Kenpachi declared as he stabbed his brown haired companion through her chest.

Ichigo's eyes widened in terror as he silently screamed out for the teen.

Shigeru shook Ichigo's shoulder, snapping him out of his hallucination. He blinked at her now uninjured face in confusion.

"Snap out of it! I know you're scared, but you have to_ calm down_," she almost pleaded.

He took deep breaths as he composed himself, muttering to himself.

"That's right...breathe, Ichigo," she smiled.

Ichigo gripped Zangetsu and nodded at Shigeru with new found determination. They ran back around the corner, but froze as their eyes widened.

"Chad…," Ichigo gasped.

Shigeru turned to the panicking teen. She instantly closed the distance between them.

"Ichigo...Ichigo! Look at me," she ordered as she snapped her fingers in front of his face.

She didn't like seeing such fear in his eyes. Shigeru was too used to seeing the rash boy's cockiness. She preferred seeing that little glimmer in his eyes as he scowled at his enemies with bottomless determination, not this despair.

"I _know _things, remember! He's fine―"

"But I can't feel his reiatsu anymore!"

"Be quiet and listen," she yelled in the boy's face.

Ichigo's mouth snapped shut as he looked down into Shigeru's eyes. She stopped glaring at the boy as she took a deep breath herself.

"He'll be _fine_," her eyes softened, "so stop letting your emotions run wild. Everyone knew the risk when we decided to do this."

Shigeru sighed in relief when she could faintly sense Chad's reiatsu again. It was weak, but it was there. That finally calmed Ichigo's nerves as he stared up into the sky.

He looked down at Shigeru, "Let's go, Shigeru!"

They marched their way back to where Kenpachi was. The 11th Squad's captain sat on the ground as he waited for the two. Shigeru couldn't help but think how it was nice of him to let the boy get his shit together, but she knew it was really because he lost interest in chasing the panicking teen.

He gazed up at them, "You finally decided to come out…"

Kenpachi stood up to his fool height, towering over the Ryoka.

"Are you ready to die, or are you surrendering," he asked the two.

Ichigo glared up at the man, "Both are wrong…"

He turned to Shigeru, "...Please, let me deal with him."

"I'm stepping in if you fall," she frowned, taking a step back.

Kenpachi grinned at Shigeru, "Hmm, that's fine. I'll take you on one at a time…"

His piercing green eye sent a chill down her back as he licked his lips.

"You haven't even shown me what you're truly capable of...Shigeru."

Shigeru frowned, "_I will soon enough. Count on it…_"

Ichigo lunged at the waiting captain striking with newfound strength and purpose. He managed to slice through the armor-like skin of the captain. The taller man's blood splattered around him. Kenpachi observed the newly inflicted wound on his chest.

"Sorry, but I can't die here. If I do then everything I care for will be destroyed," Ichigo proclaimed.

Kenpachi was absolutely ecstatic as he grinned madly down at the teen, his reiatsu rising from excitement.

"What's this? So you _can_ do it after all," the battle hungry warrior commented.

The feeling of intense dread swept over Shigeru once again. Her eyes widened as she gulped despite her dry mouth. Kenpachi charged, striking Ichigo, but it was blocked by the teen over-sized blade. She glared at the spiky haired captain for making her feeling such fear. Shigeru wasn't foolish enough to renounce fear, because only idiots thought that fear is something to be discarded. Humans needed fear, but she didn't like the helplessness that came with it. Shigeru bit her lip until she drew blood. It was just so damn _frustrating_.

Kenpachi dragged his long zanpakuto along the ground before striking Ichigo. Ichigo met the captain's blow, but Kenpachi's grin widened as he grabbed the tip of Zangetsu pulling the orange-haired even closer to him. As Ichigo was lifted off the ground, he went for a stab. Ichigo released his grip to twist out of the way of the strike, then kicked Kenpachi's hand off of his blade. He jumped away as he prepared to strike again, but Kenpachi was a step ahead appearing behind the boy, who blocked again after hearing the chime of the bells in the other's hair. Ichigo was still coming out with cuts here despite his efforts to block the other.

Shigeru's mind was racing, "_How did I harden myself against Byakuya?! What did I do? What did I do?!"_

Kenpachi congratulated Ichigo on his improvements as they battled before striking the boy in the shoulder. Shigeru's eyes widened as Ichigo screamed out his blood leaking to the ground.

"That...that's not supposed to happen," she whispered.

She had watched this fight enough time in her universe to have it memorized. This was when he explained how his zanpakuto doesn't have a name before stabbing through Zangetsu to prove that his nameless sword was stronger than Ichigo's. So far all the events in the _Bleach-verse_ have gone exactly like they were originally meant to even with her presence there. Shigeru usually did the bare minimum during major events because she feared that it would change something drastically in the future, but something about this battle was off.

Something went flying into the wall next to her, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned her head to the side to see Ichigo struggling to get to his feet. Blood was pouring from the newfound cut on his head and the new wound on his shoulder.

"Ichigo," she yelled as she ran to the boy's side.

He huffed as he glared at the captain before him, "This bastard is tough...but I managed to cut him once. I can do it again!"

Kenpachi cackled, "You're welcome to try, Ichigo! Don't relax now!"

Ichigo jumped back to his feet sprinting forward to attack the man. As the two men exchanged blows Shigeru remained frozen.

"_Something's not right! This is wrong_," she panicked as she hopped up.

Kenpachi sliced Ichigo's left thigh. The boy gritted his teeth as he tried to slice the spiky haired captain's arm, but was parried away. Ichigo distanced himself from the man huffing. The blood loss was making his vision blurry.

"I'm tired of this. This fight just isn't fun anymore," Kenpachi closed his eye as he sighed.

He opened his eye, looking past Ichigo to Shigeru and grinned.

"I'm ready for a new challenge!"

Ichigo moved to stand in Kenpachi's line of sight, blocking the crazed man's view of Shigeru.

"You're_ still_ underestimating me...is that why you won't release your zanpakuto," Ichigo glared at the man.

Shigeru gripped Hiryu Raitora tightly because she knew what was about to happen―what was _supposed_ to happen.

"_I need to protect him! There's no way he can evade Kenpachi like this!_"

Kenpachi scoffed, "My zanpakuto has no name…"

Ichigo's scowl deepened, "What?"

"This is the only form my sword has. I never put a seal on it," he lifted the blade over his face, "This _is_ the true form of my zanpakuto!"

Shigeru analyzed the long jagged blade and frowned knowing that the man had no idea how wrong he was, not that he even really cared in his current state of mind.

Ichigo laughed dryly, "Good...then I don't have to worry about you getting any stronger."

"So what?"

Shigeru's eyes widened as Kenpachi flashed in front of Ichigo jabbing his blade at him. Ichigo quickly blocked the tip of the jagged blade with the flat side of Zangetsu.

"_No! No! No_," Shigeru screamed as she ran toward the two.

Everything was happening in slow motion. Her body just wouldn't move fast enough. It was like every nightmare she'd ever had. You know the ones. Where you're running for your life, full speed, but you can feel whatever was chasing directly behind you. No matter how much you try you just can't run any faster.

Kenpachi's sword passed through Zangetsu, impaling Ichigo in the heart.

Shigeru's breath hitched as Ichigo slowly fell to his knees, blood pouring onto the ground.

"I told you_ not_ to relax...your reiatsu became this weak because you saw a chance to win…," Kenpachi frowned down at the orange-haired shinigami.

Zangetsu snapped in half as Ichigo smacked face first into the concrete.

"What a boring end…," the taller shinigami commented disappointingly.

He turned to face the horrified Shigeru and grinned, "Now…"

Kenpachi flashed in front of her with his sword held high.

"We finally have our chance to fight," he laughed wildly.

He brought down his sword shattering the ground below their feet. Dust and debris erupted from the ground. When the dust cleared, Kenpachi's eyes widened when he didn't see the girl.

"Where―"

He turned back to see the brown haired girl crouching in front of Ichigo. She had completely ignored Kenpachi as she shunpo-ed to her companion. She could only focus on Ichigo.

"_It's fine! If Ichigo's good for something it's clinging to life! He's fine! I'm tripping―_," she frantically thought.

Her eyes met his dull lifeless ones. She froze.

"What...wait, no," Shigeru uttered as his blood pooled around them.

She stabbed her black blade into the ground before she reached out to grab Ichigo by his wrist.

"_Cold…_"

_Thump thump!_

She couldn't feel a pulse.

_Thump thump!_

No reiatsu…

_Thump thump!_

Images flashed before Shigeru's eyes. Flashes of memories.

_Thump thump!_

Memories she'd rather not remember…

_Thump thump!_

Ichigo's body was overwritten with another's bloodied body.

_Thump thump!_

Those dead eyes, their last tears spilling onto the hardwood floor.

Kenpachi loomed over the teens ready to strike again.

_Thump thump!_

"_Protect...I couldn't protect them…_"

_Thump thump!_

Her body moved on its own as she blocked the giant's strike from above with her black dragon blade. Kenpachi's eyes widened with glee as he strained against the Shigeru's smaller blade.

"Yes! That's more like it," he yelled as he added more strength.

_Thump thump!_

"_Protect…_"

Shigeru slowly stood to her feet. Kenpachi felt a chill run down his spine as the girl glanced over her shoulder. Her face appeared extremely calm, almost emotionless, but her eyes… her eyes were wide and wild, a deadly purplish-blue gleam flashing in them. Her purplish-blue reiatsu leaked from her very pores as purple lightning crackled around her. She pushed the captain back. Kenpachi slid to a stop.

"_Must protect…_"

She pointed her blades parallel from each other to the ground.

"Twirl, Hiryu Raitora," she said tonelessly.

Kenpachi charged forward to strike. Shigeru crossed the tonfas across her chest blocking the blow. She grunted as she pushed the man back. Kenpachi flashed behind her preparing another blow only for her to block with her obsidian dragon tonfa as she slashed through the left side of the captain's hip with the white tiger one. His blood splattering over the both of them. Shigeru distanced herself from him as he glanced at the wound she inflicted.

He laughed maniacally, "You know, you're the first woman in ages to confront me! Don't disappoint me like Ichigo over there―"

Her eyes flashed dangerously as she appeared above the man extending the chains to Hiryu Raitora, wrapping it around Kenpachi's wrist and zanpakuto pulling them forward. She spun the man off the ground sending him crashing into one of the surrounding walls. The entire structure crumbles from the impact. She wasted no time as she raised both of her blades over her head to strike the man again. Kenpachi was faster, however, as he swiped his blade across her chest.

"Though I doubt you'll disappoint," he declared as he looked down at the smaller shinigami.

He blinked when he noticed she didn't take as much damage as he thought she would. The front of her robes were now shredded, revealing her bandaged chest and midsection that was browning from Ichigo's dried blood. Shigeru's exposed skin was completely fine.

Kenpachi shivered with excitement, "Ho, _you_ really were worth the wait!"

Shigeru twirled her tonfas in her hand, slicing Kenpachi's wrist. She brought her legs up to back-flip off his chest. She stared the man down as she ripped the rest of her tattered shihakusho, tossing it to the side.

Kenpachi stared at the brown haired teen. She was radiating pure blood lust, her eyes feral. Her long hair fluttering in the air from the reiatsu she was emitting. Shigeru lunged forward, Kenpachi lifted his sword to stab at the girl, but she dropped down sliding between the man's legs slicing his inner thigh. She quickly twisted out of the way of his incoming foot. Shigeru subconsciously activated Tora no Tsume as she hopped over the man's shoulder ready to strike, but she stopped short when she noticed the purple electricity frizzling around her blade.

Kenpachi took advantage of that hesitation, grabbing the girl by her wrist and pulling her close. He flipped her over his body, slamming her to the ground before he quickly stabbed her in the shoulder, pinning her to the ground.

"AH," Shigeru screamed as she gripped the intruding blade.

Kenpachi grinned down, "Hey, Shigeru, why don't you join my squad?"

"What," her eyes widened as she attempted to pull the blade from her shoulder.

Kenpachi pulled his blade from her shoulder, "It would be a waste to kill someone like you. I want to continue to fight you over and over! No one has gotten me this thrilled since _her_!"

Shigeru quickly rolled away from Kenpachi, covering her bleeding shoulder.

"_This is way too out of character for him_," she frowned.

Kenpachi pressed on the subject, "C'mon what do you say? Even my lieutenant has taken a liking to you! It's rare for her to like people from one meeting!"

"_Why do I feel like he's really just trying to recruit me as a playmate for Yachiru_," Shigeru sweat-dropped.

Shigeru released her wound, blood slowly dripping down her body. She laughed, "Sorry, but I pass! I'm here for one thing and that's saving Rukia. I'd rather die than join the enemy."

Kenpachi frowned in disappointment, but quickly got over it as he released more of his immense reiatsu.

"Then I'll be sure to give you a warrior's death," he declared happily.

Shigeru tucked in her chin, lifting her tonfas as she declared, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Kenpachi Zaraki!"

"S-Shigeru…," a familiar voice croaked.

Shigeru froze. She slowly turned in the direction of the voice to see Ichigo struggling to sit up. He was still heavily injured, but he was _alive_. Her eyes teared up, but she blinked them away. She gave Ichigo a toothy grin.

"About time you came around, you Strawberry-Idiot!"

Ichigo's blade was still broken. He needed time to repair Zangetsu and to stop the bleeding of his wound.

He grunted, "Shigeru… run away! He's too strong…"

"Are you serious right now? I've been holding this guy off to avenge you, and you're telling me to retreat! Damn that," she yelled as she rolled her eyes.

Ichigo took in her tattered robes and bleeding shoulder. He glared at Captain Zaraki, "_This bastard…"_

Ichigo coughed up some blood before he pleaded, "Please, Shigeru just run! I'll figure this out!"

Her grin faded and she scrutinized the boy, "The injured and dying have no say in battle!"

She turned her back on Ichigo to face Kenpachi.

"Now shut up, focus on _not_ dying, and do what it is that you need to do!"

Ichigo grit his teeth in frustration as Shigeru stepped toward Kenpachi who eyed Ichigo.

He grinned, "Hmm, I gotta say I'm surprised you're still alive, Ichigo!"

Shigeru placed her swords on her hips as she sneered at the captain, "Hey, Kenpachi let's up the stakes a little!"

"What do you have in mind," the spiky-haired man grinned.

Shigeru pointed her tiger blade at his covered eye, "Take off the eye patch."

His uncovered eye widened as he grinned madly, "Oh, so you noticed…"

"Yeah, you want me to go all out, right? I'll only do that if you do the same," she cocked her head to the side as her eyes flashed purplish-blue.

Kenpachi blinked at the brown skinned spitfire, before falling into a fit of laughter. He raised his head up to the sky as his laughter echoed throughout the area. Yachiru watched him patiently from above. He brought his hand up to the iconic eye patch. Shigeru widened out her stance as she regarded the man; she noticed that the wounds she inflicted on him were bleeding profusely, especially the slash to his hip.

"This is great! It seems that you are a worthy opponent, so I'll go all out," he yelled as he ripped his eye patch from his face.

A column of golden reiatsu erupted from the captain as he unleashed his monstrous energy. His green eyes now glowing the same golden color as his reiatsu.

"Now come, Shigeru! I'll be sure to kill you with everything I have," he bellowed.

Shigeru took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. She'd always limited herself since becoming a shinigami, only ever using a tiny fraction of her power. Now she finally had the opportunity to see just how much power she really had. She could let loose without fear.

After all, Shigeru knew she was a little monster.

She opened her glowing eyes as her reiatsu erupted around her. Blue flame-like reiatsu covered with purple lightning shot to the skies. The manifestation of a face, half tiger-half dragon, could be seen in her reiatsu. Shigeru extended the chains of her tonfas and she twirled the blades around at top speed. The wind from the spinning chains clearing the dust from the area, sending little pieces of debris flying about.

"Here I come, Kenpachi," Shigeru proclaimed as she smirked at the man.

Said man smiled gleefully, "Come at me with all you've got, Shigeru!"

The two charged each other full force. Shigeru smiled just as wildly as the battle crazed captain she was fighting. His sword sliced up her left arm as she went to stab his right shoulder. She wrapped her chains around his upper body swinging him around in a circle before releasing him into the air. She appeared above him, slamming both of her feet into his chest. The man crashed back into the ground with enough force to make a small crater beneath them. Kenpachi grabbed Shigeru by her ankle, flinging her into a wall. She grunted before flashing back to the man ignoring the blood that leaked from her temple. Her ponytail slipped from its place atop her head.

She grinned as he inflicted a deep cut from his left shoulder down to his waist.

Kenpachi smirked as he aimed his blade for Shigeru's face. She narrowly dodged a slice appearing down her cheek.

"Keep it up! Let's not let this fight end too soon," he yelled madly.

Shigeru laughed wildly, "Of course!"

Shigeru couldn't tell if it was adrenaline or just plain exhilaration that was driving her forward, but either way, she was enjoying this fight against Kenpachi with all her heart.

She gave his right side the same treatment before kicking him away from her. He slammed his zanpakuto into the wall to help him come to a complete stop. He huffed as his blood sloshed out of his wounds until the ground. He pulled his blade from the wall as he grinned down at the disheveled girl, who was huffing as much as him. She didn't do anything to stop the bleeding from her wounds, and she was losing a lot of blood fast.

"_Damn, Ichigo! Hurry up! I don't know how much longer I can hold him off_," she huffed as she blinked the blurriness from her eyes.

Kenpachi laughed, "What's wrong? Ready to call it quits?"

"You wish," she grinned.

She charged forward channeling as much reiatsu as she could for a final attack as Kenpachi did the same. The two clashed for the last time, as the area lit up with their reiatsu. The smoke cleared.

The two were frozen in place.

Shigeru trembled as she coughed up blood, her hair spilling from its ponytail.

She looked down to see the jagged blade impaling her through her midsection, soaking her wraps with her blood. She shakily looked up at Kenpachi. Her once white tiger blade was being stained red as it was covered in the blood leaking from the artery she'd nicked in his neck. The dragon blade embedded just inches under his right rib cage.

"_Damn...a little higher...and I could of punctured his lung_," she berated herself as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

Kenpachi pulled his blade from her body. She cringed hearing the wet sound of her blood splashing forward. Shigeru stumbled back, bringing a hand up to the hole in her midsection. She stared at the blood spilling from between her fingers. Kenpachi stared down at the teen satisfied. He perked up when he noticed her smile. It wasn't sad or spiteful. A genuine smile.

"I...I guess this...is it. Thanks, Kenpachi…it was fun," she beamed as she fell back.

Her blades returned to their base form, but the grip on her swords never loosened. She wondered why she hadn't hit the ground hard yet. She focused her slowly darkening vision to see Kenpachi holding her up by her wrist.

He grinned down at the girl, "Yeah, it was fun. Shigeru..."

As he lowered the teen to the ground, Shigeru sensed a sudden surge of immense reiatsu from somewhere close by. The last thing she heard as someone calling out her name.

She smiled as she finally closed her eyes, "_About time...idiot…_"

Ichigo with his newly restored Zangetsu charged Kenpachi, knocking him away from Shigeru. He slashed Kenpachi across his chest.

"You bastard," the boy bellowed as he glared at the heavily injured captain.

Ichigo glanced at the smiling Shigeru. She was still breathing, only barely, as blood pooled around her unconscious body.

His scowl wavered, "_That's why I told you to run, stupid…_"

Kenpachi huffed as he grinned at the boy, "Just how did you revive yourself, Ichigo?"

"I don't have time to explain that to you. I'm going to end this with one strike…," Ichigo frowned at the man.

"Finish...with one strike? That's no good..."

Ichigo gripped his blade tightly as Kenpachi suddenly lunged forward.

"It's just starting to get interesting! Isn't it?," the wild man yelled.

Ichigo aimed forward but Kenpachi dodged, getting sliced across the face. He appeared inches from Ichigo's face aiming his blade at the boy's head. Ichigo narrowly dodged as Kenpachi sliced his cheek to his ear. Ichigo jumped back trying to distance himself from the man.

Kenpachi didn't let up as he questioned the teen, "How did you get so strong all of a sudden?! I don't get it at all, but it doesn't matter!"

He struck the ground at Ichigo's feet.

"Right now, we should just enjoy the moment!"

Ichigo gnashed his teeth together as he evaded the man. He couldn't understand how the man was still on his feet as he took in the injuries that Shigeru had inflicted on him plus the couple he successfully landed. He noticed the trail of blood left behind the captain.

"_Look at how much blood this guy is losing! He shouldn't even be able to stand right now, but no matter how much I hit him he just won't fall_," he frowned.

Kenpachi kept pressing him despite his grievous wounds.

Ichigo yelled, "You...you're crazy! Do you like fighting so much that you're not afraid of dying?!"

"I'm crazy? _You're_ the one that's crazy! You're so strong, yet you don't like to fight," Kenpachi refuted madly.

Ichigo's eyes widened as the man went on a tirade.

"You should enjoy it! Enjoy the carnage! Enjoy the pain! Death is a small price to pay for the enjoyment of battle!" Kenpachi ranted.

He pointed his blade in the direction that Shigeru laid motionless.

"Do you want to know why I was far more interested in fighting that woman than you?"

Ichigo glared at the man as Kenpachi further explained himself.

"She truly enjoys the thrill of the battlefield! She doesn't shy away from the bloodshed and savagely attacks her enemies with the intent to kill! She _doesn't _fear death!"

Kenpachi pointed his blade back at Ichigo, "That's something you lack, Ichigo! Not that it matters…"

He returned his blade to his hip before slicing through the building next to him. As the building collapsed he declared.

"You'll be dead soon. I promise!"

Ichigo calmly regarded the savage captain. The spirit of Zangetsu appeared behind the boy.

"_Do you hear that, Ichigo? The pained moans of his zanpakuto…_"

Ichigo nodded his head.

"_There is no resonance between beings who have no trust. Do you trust me, Ichigo?_"

Ichigo nodded his head, "Of course! I'll give you all my power...use it however you like. Then, please lend me your power!"

The spirit reached for the hilt of of the over sized blade, "_...Yeah_"

Ichigo's eyes shimmered a light blue as his reiatsu exploded from his body.

"Even now you continue to increase your reiatsu! Interesting," the taller man grinned.

Ichigo gazed at the captain, "Of course, I'm borrowing Zangetsu's power. I'll never lose to someone who fights only for himself."

"Zangetsu? Is that the name of your zanpakuto? 'Borrowing power from you zanpakuto' and 'fighting alongside it'...what bullshit!," Kenpachi glared at the boy.

He turned his zanpakuto in his hand, "Zanpakuto are just tools of war! Fighting alongside them is just the whiny bullshit of weaklings too spineless to fight by themselves. It's not something that people like us should be saying, Ichigo!"

Kenpachi's eyes glowed gold as his reiatsu manifested around him in the shape of a skull. Ichigo's reiatsu manifested in the shape of his hollow mask.

"_Take him down with one blow_," he declared.

The two charged each other. Ichigo's eyes glowed with determination. As their blades met, their reiatsu exploded around the area destroying the surrounding buildings and landscape. The building crumbled down as the two men stood in place. Ichigo's Zangetsu embedded in Zaraki's body, while Kenpachi's blade impaled the other. Ichigo glared up at the captain.

"Sorry...everyone," he uttered as Kenpachi ripped the sword through his side.

Ichigo fell to the ground.

Kenpachi's wound erupted in blood. He closed his eyes and smiled as he placed his blade on his shoulder.

"Idiot...what are you apologizing for…," he smirked as his blade snapped in two.

"You won…"

Kenpachi collapsed to the ground. The two bled out slowly as Yachiru walked over carrying the unconscious Shigeru. She gently placed the woman to the ground by the orange-haired teen. Yachiru stepped closer to Ichigo and bowed.

"Thank you," she beamed.

The boy's eyes may have been open, but he was without a doubt already passed out.

Yachiru smiled down at the two Ryoka, "It's thanks to Ichi and Shi-Shi that Kenny had a whole lot of fun! Kenny hasn't been this happy in a looong time, so thank you!"

The two unconscious teens remained unresponsive as the pink-haired child hoisted the giant man over her tiny shoulder.

She faced the two one last time and smiled, "Don't die, Ichi, Shi-Shi...then hopefully you two can place with Kenny again in the future. Pretty, please!"

Yachiru jumped across the building away from the two and onto the rooftops.

Some time passed by before Yoruichi pawed her way over to the two bleeding shinigami. She frowned at the condition they were in, especially Shigeru, whose pulse was slowly fading.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo...Shigeru. I was too late," she said as she gently gazed at the two.

She smiled at the two, "You two really got banged up, but considering you were going against Kenpachi...it can't be helped."

The black cat started to glow, "Don't worry. I won't let either of you die."

**Author's Note: Hmm, things aren't going exactly like Shigeru imagined they would. Her presence in the Bleach-verse is finally starting to shift some things ever so slightly. As we all know, Ichigo was the one who originally dealt **_**all**_** the damage to Kenpachi, but thanks to Shigeru who had no choice but to battle the man, she inflicted some pretty heavy blows in the hopes of slowing him down. I felt like Shigeru knew she wouldn't win the fight outright. That's why she opted to just aim for places that would at least slow the brutish man via extreme blood loss. Who do you guys think she was referring to when she was flipping out over Ichigo's apparent death? What else do you think she will change? Hope enjoyed the chapter! Next chapter bankai training and reunions!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Hey, we're almost to the epic battle of Sokyoku Hill! One chapter away to be exact! Have you all been enjoying the story? Someone asked in the comments if I could give you guys a definite release date for new chapters weekly. Well...I sadly don't really have one haha! I'm sorry about that, but I assure you that I will update once or twice a week until the completion of this story. It makes me so happy that you all are enjoying it so much!**

Chapter 10: Let the Training Montage Begin!

_Under Sokyoku Hill_

In the secret cave owned by Yoruichi and Kisuke, the two substitute shinigami were recovering from their injuries. Ichigo slowly awakened from his slumber in a medical barrier.

"_Where...where am I...am I not dead_," his groggy thoughts the only thing keeping him awake.

Yoruichi walked over to Ichigo.

The black cat looked down at the boy, "Looks like you're awake."

Ichigo smiled at the cat, "Yoruichi! You're still okay...that's a relief…"

"Yes, better than you," she walked around the teen observing his injuries.

Ichigo grinned weakly, "Did you rescue me, Yoruichi? Thanks for that…"

"Hmm, you should thank your stubbornness. That's what kept you alive with such injuries...both of you," the cat scoffed.

"_..Both…,_" he blinked a couple times.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he shot off the floor much to Yoruichi's surprise.

"Shigeru! Where...is she okay?!," the boy panicked.

He winced as he reopened his wound on his stomach, blood spurting from the bandages.

"What are you thinking? You can't get up yet! Don't you know how serious your injuries are," Yoruichi yelled as she tried to convince the boy to calm down.

Ichigo ignored the felines warnings.

"I have to help her... and the others..," the teen huffed.

Yoruichi hopped on the boy's face forcing him to lay back down. He covered his face with his hand in confusion.

The feline sighed, "Chad is fine. So are Orihime and Uryuu. As for Shigeru, just take a look…"

Ichigo turned his head to look around the cave. He was relieved to spot Shigeru on the opposite end of the cave in her own medical barrier. He was about to call out to her until he noticed her condition. His eyes widened as he crawled over to the normally hyperactive teen. Yoruichi had replaced the bandages that usually covered her midsection with clean ones. Her head was wrapped with bandages as her long waves created a halo around her body. Her left arm and right shoulder tightly bound. He noticed a layer of sweat over her brown flushed face that sported a thin bandage running down the right side of her face. Shigeru's chest rising and falling in quick huffs as she furrowed her brows.

Ichigo reached out with a shaky hand as he whispered sadly, "Shigeru…"

"DON'T TOUCH HER," Yoruichi hollered, swiping her claws at his hand.

Ichigo flinched away from Shigeru. He looked down at the feline beside him as she glared up at the boy. He looked down at his bleeding hand.

"Y-Yoruichi...why can't I touch her," he asked in shock at the cat's actions.

Yoruichi peered over to the recovering girl as she groaned in her sleep. Shigeru looked more uncomfortable rather than in pain. While she was treating the girl, Yoruichi noticed that Shigeru was absorbing her reiryoku a little at a time. It made treating her wounds pretty difficult, but luckily Kenpachi avoided any vital organs with that stab to her midsection. Though Yoruichi wondered if the captain did that intentionally or not. Regardless, Shigeru was far too unstable to risk Ichigo touching her...

She turned back to Ichigo, "Lay down. I'll explain…"

Ichigo nodded as he went back to where he was before, laying back down. He focused on the black cat as they explained Shigeru's condition. The black cat sighed heavily before she began.

"You see, Ichigo, Shigeru has a special ability not seen in any shinigami. She can absorb others' reiryoku and make it her own, augmenting her own abilities. She's done it to you before, remember," Yoruichi explained.

Ichigo nodded, "When I defeated that giant hollow, right?"

"Exactly," the cat nodded, "It seems that during your encounter with Kenpachi her body reacted subconsciously. It absorbed his reiryoku, and continued to do so during her battle with him. We think she does this to adapt to powerful beings, so that she can be on equal grounds with them while fighting. Alias, it seems that she doesn't have much control over this ability yet."

Yoruichi walked over to the slumbering girl. Ichigo's gaze followed the cat as she sat near the girl.

"While her body adjusts to the new reiryoku she falls into this fever-like state until she's completely adjusted to her new power. However, due to her injuries and the amount of power she spent fighting Kenpachi her body is running on survival instinct. It's trying to absorb the reiryoku of spiritual beings to speed up her healing process indiscriminately," Yoruichi noted, patting the girl on the forehead with her paw. She felt a little of her own energy leaving her little feline body.

Ichigo surveyed Shigeru, sadness taking over his features, "_All because I wasn't strong enough to defeat Kenpachi on my own…_"

"That's why you can't touch her until she's stabilized. There's no telling how much energy she'll steal from you. She could try to drain you dry for all we know," Yoruichi noted as she made her way back over to him.

Ichigo nodded, "I understand…"

"Don't look so down! She'll be back to normal in no time. Making a menace of herself as usual," Yoruichi chuckled.

She sat beside the boy, "As for you, your body would've been split in two if it wasn't for your possession here. It got smashed, though…"

Ichigo looked over to see Yoruichi holding up a cracked white mask with five red stripes on the left side. His eyes widened as he quickly recognized the trinket.

"I had that...on me," he asked.

The cat perked up at that, "Hm, don't you usually carry it?"

"...No, actually yesterday I got saved by that thing during my fight with Renji, so I wanted to keep it as a lucky charm. But Hanataro had a bad feeling about it and wanted me to get rid of it," Ichigo explained as he stared at the mask.

"So, I let Shigeru toss it in the sewers…"

Yoruichi's eyes widened in shock. As Ichigo rambled about who Hanataro was, she tried to put her thoughts together. Ichigo grabbed the mask off the floor and smiled at it.

"Anyway, I'm not sure how it got back to me...Shigeru tossed it so hard I'm pretty sure it shattered on impact," Ichigo chuckled glancing at the unconscious girl.

Yoruichi spoke up, "I'll take it for safekeeping…"

"But...I want to keep it," the teen pouted.

The cat glared down at the boy and ordered, "Give it to me. End of discussion!"

Ichigo nervously handed the mask over to the cat. Yoruichi looked down at the mask again, frowning at the idea that it could be a part of something more sinister.

"You must be_ really_ strong, Yoruichi," Ichigo noted, bringing the cat from her thoughts.

The cat perked up, "What do you mean?"

"Well running around without getting hurt at all, and then somehow carrying me _and_ Shigeru here with that small body…" Ichigo absently listed off.

Yoruichi turned away, glancing at Shigeru as she started to groan only to stop seconds later, "Oh, there's no problem once I return to my original form."

Ichigo nodded, "Of course, your original form…"

His eyes shot open like saucers as he turned to face the cat, "Wait, original form?!"

"Oh, that's right, we've never seen it before. No use hiding it now," Yoruichi smirked.

The cave filled with smoke as the cat's black body grew in size. The black fur turned into lovely dark brown skin. Her long dark purple hair hanging down her back. The only thing that remained the same was her golden cat-eyes. She grinned at the teen as she exposed herself to him.

"W...Wh..What," Ichigo was at a complete loss of words.

Yoruichi, forgetting she was very much naked, laughed at the orange-haired teen, "Heh! You sure look surprised! Well considering my voice in my cat-form it's understandable."

Ichigo started to turn a little blue at the revelation that the black cat that he thought was a man was in fact a woman this whole time.

"I love returning to my true form. Everyone is always_ so_ shocked! Well, except Shigeru, but she already knew who I was," she laughed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

She crouch down in front of him with a item in her hands, "Now, I'll explain how I got you two here―"

"Put some damn clothes on!"

She blinked and looked down at herself, "Oh, right. Clothes are a thing…"

Yoruichi searched the cave for her spare clothing. She quickly pulled a black turtleneck over her head after pulling her hair into her signature ponytail.

"Sorry, sorry, it's been a long time since I wore clothes so I forgot," she apologized plainly.

She smirked as she turned to the grumpy blushing teen.

"Though, you're surprisingly quite innocent! First time seeing a naked girl," she teased.

Ichigo's blush deepened, "Oh, shut up!"

As Yoruichi continued to tease the boy, Shigeru grinned softly in her sleep from the corner as if she could sense what was going on. Once Yoruichi was completely dressed she balanced her flying device on her foot. She blinked at the bleeding wound on Ichigo's body.

"Is the wound of your stomach okay? Yelling like that would open them. Might wanna be careful in the future," she asked carefree.

Ichigo grit his teeth as he yelled internally, "_Damn her…_"

Yoruichi handed Ichigo the flying device and explained how it worked. As Ichigo turned the rare device in his hands he thought over the situation.

"Why would you have such a device?"

Yoruichi looked down at the boy as he continued his questioning.

"You can shape-shift, you can heal wounds, and you have this device...Yoruichi, just who _are _you," he asked.

Yoruichi eyeballed the recovering teen, "... that's…"

Suddenly, an intense amount of reiatsu pounded down on the group. The two conscious shinigami's eyes widened in shock.

Ichigo looked up to the roof of the cave, "This reiatsu! It's _him_!"

"It's coming from the direction of the Repentance Cell," Yoruichi announced as she glared in the direction of the opposing reiatsu.

As they speak, Byakuya was confronting Ganju and Hanataro at the Repentance Cell as they were trying to save Rukia. Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu and made a run for the door.

"Ichigo, where do you think you're going," Yoruichi yelled at the boy.

He turned to her, "Ganju and Hanataro were going to the Repentance Cell! If I don't go who's going to save them?!"

Ichigo poured his reiatsu into the flying device, destroying the door as he flew off. Yoruichi ran to the entrance.

"Wait! Ichigo," she yelled.

But the boy was far gone. The Shihoin heiress smacked her lips in irritation.

"That dumb brat!"

She prepared to leave, but stopped when she noticed Shigeru stir. Yoruichi got closer to the girl as she tossed and turned uncomfortably before settling once again. Her face scrunched up as sweat dripped down her body.

The ex-captain sighed, "_Looks like she won't be waking anytime soon…_"

She grabbed a wet towel and placed it on Shigeru's forehead to help soothe her fever.

"I'll bring our idiot back in one piece," the golden-eyed woman declared before chasing after Ichigo.

Shigeru's breathing was becoming more steady as time went on, but something deep inside her was stirring. Her body had finally relaxed, before Byakuya's immense reiatsu pounded down in the surrounding area once again reaching the cave under Sokyoku Hill. Shigeru's body pulsed with a dark and heavy reiatsu. She slowly opened her eyes, her pupils dilating to the point that her natural brown eyes appeared black. Shigeru slowly stood to her feet, the cool towel dropping to her feet. She tilted her head in the direction of the Repentance Cell in a trance like state.

"...Strong," she whispered a monotone.

She flashed out of the cave in the direction of the powerful reiatsu signatures.

* * *

_Outside the Repentance Cell_

Byakuya had released his Senbonzakura and sliced through Ganju's body. When he was going to attack Hanataro, Ukitake appeared in time to stop him.

"Ho, that was pretty scary...I think that's enough. Don't you agree, Captain Kuchiki," Ukitake smiled down at the Kuchiki heir.

Rukia perked up at the appearance of the white haired man, "Captain Ukitake!"

"Hey, Rukia! You've lost weight! How are you feeling," the captain grinned.

Byakuya coldly regarded Ukitake, "What is the meaning of this?"

"That's my line! You know that releasing your zanpakuto in the Seireitei is a first-class offense. What were you thinking," Ukitake gently berated the raven haired captain.

Byakuya turned to face the man, "It's war time...the ban has been lifted."

As Ukitake questioned Byakuya about what he meant, a powerful burst of reiatsu weighed down on the group of shinigami on the bridge. The two captain's eyes widened.

"What is this reiatsu?! It's clearly at a captain's level, but I don't recognize this person...who is he," the white-haired man asked in shock.

Rukia, who still couldn't get off of the ground, whispered, "Can it be..?"

Ichigo flew into the air above the bridge.

He landed in a crouch in front of the falsely accused woman. Rukia stared down at the boy in disbelief.

"I-Ichi―"

The orange-haired teen brushed past the woman to her disappointment. He went to Hanataro to check on the boy. Rukia looked down at her feet disheartened.

"Rukia..."

She perked back up.

"I came to save you!"

Ichigo stood next to the woman, trying to look heroic and epic. Her eyebrows raised slightly, but she said nothing.

Ichigo frowned, "Why're making that face? I _said_ I've come to rescue you! You should be smiling!"

Rukia looked like she was going to cry.

"You dummy...I told you not to come… I told you.."

She lowered her head in shame.

"Now look at you covered in bloody wounds...you dummy…"

Ichigo glanced past the two captains to see Ganju's bloody body.

"Yeah, well you can get mad and yell at me about it later...," he shrugged his shoulders.

He glared at the cold, raven-haired Captain of the 6th Squad.

"After I defeat him."

As the two friends bickered Ukitake stared at the orange-haired teen in shock.

He muttered, "Byakuya...who is that man?"

Byakuya glanced at the snowy-haired captain, "He is a nobody. Compared to the person behind you he is not important. He is just a_ ryoka._"

Byakuya turned to glare at the orange-haired teen before him.

"That I will _destroy_."

The two enemies slowly walked toward each other. Ichigo gripped his Zangetsu.

He grinned at the man, "Well, look at you all carefree! Didn't even move when I was talking to Rukia."

"Who do you think you're talking to," Byakuya glared at the overconfident boy, "Why would _I _need to sneak up on someone like _you_? Don't think too highly of yourself, scum."

Byakuya unleashed his immense reiatsu. Hanataro and Rukia fell to their knees. Ichigo calmly pointed his zanpakuto at the opposing captain. Byakuya observed the teen.

"Not even budging in the presence of this reiatsu... it seems you've gained some strength," he commented.

Ichigo glared at him as he got into his fighting stance, sweating slightly from his injuries.

"I don't know how you re-acquired your power of a shinigami, but you should have just returned to your normal human life...instead you're throwing away the life that you could have kept. How foolish," Byakuya frowned at the reckless teen.

Ichigo calmly disagreed, "I'm not throwing my life away…"

The raven-haired man perked up at that as the teen stared him down with clear determination.

"I'm going to defeat you then go home...It's as simple as that, " Ichigo declared.

Byakuya glared at the boy, "I told you not to think too highly of yourself, you insignificant scum!"

The man seemingly disappeared from Ichigo's sight as he shunpo-ed behind the boy, attempting to stab him in the back. Ichigo blocked the blow with Zangetsu, much to the shock of the more experienced shinigami around him.

"I saw every step you took, Byakuya Kuchiki," he grinned cockily.

He pushed the man and his blade away from him. Byakuya remained as aloof as ever.

"I see...you improved more than I thought. In that case…," he raised his sword in his face as he observed the teen.

Rukia froze when she saw her brother's stance.

Byakuya added, "Before you start to get too full of yourself, I will show you...what you can't compensate for. A thousand years of training, the decisive difference in strength."

"Run, Ichigo," Rukia begged frantically.

"Scatter…" he commanded as his zanpakuto glowed pink.

Yoruichi appeared in a flash, binding his Senbonzakura in a white cloth. Everyone froze in shock.

Byakuya's eyes widened, "You..!"

"Yoruichi," Ukitake called out.

Rukia shivered, "I've heard that name before...she's the ex-captain of Squad 2 and the ex-commander of the Onmitsukido…"

Byakuya glared at the woman, "Yoruichi Shihoin. I haven't seen your face in a while. It's been a hundred years since your disappearance. Everyone thought you died…"

"Yoruichi," Ichigo called out.

She glanced back to look at the boy she was currently a little pissed off at.

"If you came here to save me, thank you, but please move aside. I have to defeat him," he demanded nicely.

She scoffed, "'Defeat' him? By yourself…?"

The Goddess of Shunpo did what she did best and flashed over to the boy.

"Don't make me laugh, idiot!"

She forced her hand into his wounded stomach, much to everyone's surprise. Ichigo passed out when she removed her hand from his gut, successfully implanting the sedative into his system. She slung the boy over her shoulder as he fell forward.

Ukitake was the first to speak, "It's a drug, isn't it? You're trying to save him, Yoruichi?"

"Ukitake…"

Byakuya stepped forth, "Did you think I would allow you to leave, Yoruichi?"

"Oh, when did you become such a big talker, Little Byakuya," Yoruichi mocked.

She grinned widely at the man as he glared at her.

"When did you ever _once_ beat me in a game of tag?"

He narrowed his eyes, "...Should we try again?"

Yoruichi flashed behind the man. As Byakuya went to strike, she flashed far behind Ukitake. She grinned at her former student as she landed back on the bridge. Her eyes widened when Byakuya popped beside her.

"You can't escape me with that level of shunpo," he declared.

He slashed the woman, slicing her arm off in the process. Byakuya showed no emotion as she fell to the ground only to see that it was nothing more than an after image. Yoruichi landed on his extended arm.

She chuckled, "_You'll_ never catch me with _that_ level of shunpo!"

At that very moment, everyone shuddered at the dark reiatsu that suddenly hammered down upon them. Yoruichi hopped away from Byakuya.

Hanataro shivered, "What...what is that?"

Shigeru gracefully landed on the railing in the middle of the bridge. She seemed to be a trace.

"Shigeru," Rukia gasped at her sudden appearance.

She grinned at the girl, but quickly noticed that something was off about her. For one, the talkative girl was unusually silent.

Hanataro smiled, "Shigeru, I'm so glad to see you!"

Shigeru didn't respond to the two as they called out to her. She stood there seemingly frozen.

Rukia furrowed her brow, "_Something's wrong!_"

"Shigeru…," Hanataro called out again nervously, but again she didn't respond.

Shigeru tilted her head to the side slowly as if she was trying to figure something out.

Byakuya's eyes widened as he recognized the newcomer, "Shigeru Kuroi…"

Shigeru slowly turned to face Byakuya with her black eyes.

"...You...strong…," she said in a robotic voice, not even seeming to recognize the captain who once tried to kill her.

Yoruichi panicked as she took in the girl's robotic condition, "_This isn't good! She followed after Byakuya's powerful reiatsu, she's trying to steal some of his power to heal! She's sleepwalking!_"

"Another annoyance to deal with―," Byakuya commented before being cut off by the sight of black eyes.

Shigeru flashed inches from the man's face. Standing on her toes as she reached up to try to touch his cheek.

Yoruichi barked, "Don't let her touch you!"

Byakuya flashed behind the girl, raising his sword to slice her, but his blade was stopped by her armor like skin. His eyes widened as he prepared for another strike. She spun around the man avoiding his blade. Shigeru reached out to try to touch the man again, but he shunpo-ed away.

"What is the meaning of this, Shigeru Kuroi," he asked the woman.

He took in her condition. She stared blankly at him with eerie blackened eyes, but from what he could remember she had brown eyes. The girl was dressed in bandages that covered her many wounds, and lacked the proper top to her shihakusho. Long, brown waves fluttered in the air, despite there being no wind. He noticed some blood slowly seeping through her bandages. He narrowed his eyes at the immense amount of dark reiatsu she was emitting.

She flashed out in front of the man, arms outstretched as if she was going to hug him. She a fingers brush away from touching him before Ukitake pulled Byakuya away from the girl by the back of his haori. He frowned down at the girl.

He released Byakuya, "I'm not sure who you are, or what you're trying to accomplish, young one, but that is _enough_!"

Shigeru tilted her head to the side curiously as she stared at the white haired captain unblinkingly. She reached up, gently placing her hand on his chest. Something resonated between the two as they both pulsed. Ukitake's eyes widened as he looked down into the blackened eyes of the girl.

"...Mimihagi…," she uttered barely above whisper, only loud enough for him to hear before pulling her hand away from the man.

He stood there frozen, "_How...How does she know? Who or what is this girl?_"

Yoruichi appeared behind Shigeru forcing her hand into her back at the exit wound in her midsection. Shigeru's pupils shrank back to normal revealing her glassy brown eyes before they rolled to the back of her head. She fell backwards into the woman. Yoruichi grabbed the girl by her waist and flashed onto the roof of one of the surrounding buildings.

Yoruichi looked down at Byakuya, "Three days. In three days, I'll make these two stronger than you, so let's postpone this fight until then. If you want to follow me, you can, but the Goddess of Shunpo won't be caught so easily…"

She vanished taking the two teens far away.

Byakuya's face darkened, "...They got away."

The Kuchiki heir turned to leave the bridge. Ukitake chased after the raven-haired captain.

"Hey, hey, where are you going," he called.

The other captain kept walking, "I've lost interest. Do what you want."

As the man walked away he thought back to the brown-haired woman who came after him, and her unnerving behavior.

"_...Shigeru Kuroi, what was that?_"

* * *

_Back at Sokyoku Hill_

Yoruichi dropped Ichigo to the ground, and placed Shigeru back in the medical barrier to rest, her condition far better than before. She leaned against the wall to catch her breath.

"Whew, I've gotten rusty in these last hundred years," she mused to herself.

She slid to the ground as she examined the two teens: One, an impulsive, stubborn, fool, who displayed an advanced growth rate like no other in shinigami history. The other, an inter-dimensional mystery, capable of powerful yet disturbing things paired with an instinctive and natural understanding of shinigami techniques and skills.

Yoruichi crossed her arms over her knees, "Wake up you two. You can get even stronger!"

She glanced at Ichigo and he rested.

"When you wake, Ichigo, I'll tell you about Zangetsu's real power and a few other secrets…"

Yoruichi then eyed her favorite new student, Shigeru.

"Shigeru, we have much to discuss when you awaken...but I assure you I'll make sure you reach even greater heights," she declared firmly.

She closed her eyes as she patiently waited for the two to wake, for when they did intense training awaited them.

_A couple of hours later_

Shigeru finally opened her eyes. She slowly sat up and winced briefly at her healing wounds. Shigeru frowned at the number of bandages that surrounded her being.

"Ugh, I feel like shit," she groaned.

Yoruichi perked up and grinned, "Finally, Sleeping Beauty awakens!"

"Aw, you think I'm pretty," the brunette chuckled only to hiss in pain, "Nooo, it hurts to laugh! My true weakness!"

Yoruichi shook her head in amusement. She missed the girls antics, and was glad to see that she was completely stable as her reiatsu had finally leveled out. She got up from her spot on the ground and grabbed one of her old robes from her days as a captain. She tossed it over the Shigeru, who caught it reflexively.

"Here put this on," she ordered before rummaging through her things for a couple of more items for the girl.

Shigeru pulled on the haltered robe, frowning at how revealing it was, suddenly grateful for the wrapping around her chest and back. She looked down at herself.

She sighed, "_It's missing a few special touches but it'll have to do…_"

A beautiful royal purple obi was tossed over her face. She blinked as she gawked at the Shihoin heiress in surprise.

"You just wouldn't look right without one," the woman grinned as she walked over to the girl with a golden cord and a pair of black arm bracers.

Shigeru smiled, "Thank you, Yoruichi! I love it!"

Yoruichi hummed as she helped place the obi around the taller girl's waist, overlaying it with the golden cord. Shigeru pulled the new black arm bracer on. The shorter woman patted the teen on her back once she was finished.

"See now you look like yourself again. Now go wake the orange-haired menace. We've got much to do," the purple haired woman ordered.

Shigeru turned to see Ichigo still snoozing on the ground. She kneeled down and poked him in the cheek.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey," she mused.

Ichigo just drooled unresponsively.

She grinned, "Well, I did try to be gentle…"

Shigeru pulled her hand back before slapping her palm down on the boy's face. Ichigo jumped out of his slumber in a fright. He touched his reddening face.

"Ow, what the hell!"

He growled at the girl and she laughed. Despite his anger, her laughter, it was music to his ears. He wrapped his arms around Shigeru, pulling her into a bear-hug.

Shigeru was taken by surprise, but she wrapped her arms around him, patting him on the back. She chuckled, "Well, someone's happy to see me!"

"...I almost lost you back there," he whispered, trembling slightly.

The girl slid her hand up to his spiky, orange tresses, patting the boy on his head gently. Sometimes she forgot just how fragile Ichigo could actually be, contrary to his tough guy persona he tries so hard to keep up.

She smiled and whispered, "You can't get rid of me that easily, little brother."

"I'm still taller than you," he chuckled into her shoulder.

Shigeru rolled her eyes, "That still has nothing to do with the fact that I'm older than you physically and mentally, dummy, so stop saying that."

"We're the same age physically," Ichigo argued.

Shigeru smiled, "Nah I'm still a few months older than you. I'm a March-baby!"

"Details, details," he scoffed, pulling away from her and grinned.

Yoruichi clapped her hands, grabbing the two's attention. They turned to the woman.

"If you two are done, we have work to do," she noted seriously as she crossed her arms.

They followed Yoruichi down into the training area.

The woman turned to face the two, "There's no time to wait for you to completely heal, so it will hurt quite a bit...but this is what you'll have to do."

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah…"

"Let's get to it," Shigeru grinned as she folded her arms behind her head.

Ichigo pulled out Zangetsu and aimed its blade at the woman before them. Yoruichi and Ichigo conversed about his limited understanding of this zanpakuto. Shigeru looked down at Hiryu Raitora. They'd been unusually silent since her awakening, and she had a feeling they were very angry with her.

"_I can already feel the pain they're going to put me through during bankai training_," she whined.

Yoruichi pulled out two human sized dolls, which caught Shigeru's attention. Ichigo placed Zangetsu into the ground, leaning on it's hilt.

"What the heck is that creepy looking doll," he asked.

Yoruichi looked over to Shigeru and grinned, "You want to explain it to him?"

"Sure," she nodded, "They're Tenshintai. They can forcefully materialize one's zanpakuto."

Ichigo scratched the back of his head, "I don't get it. What does that have to do with bankai?"

Shigeru ran a hand down her face, "...Of course you don't…"

"Isn't it obvious? You need communication and synchronization of your zanpakuto to achieve shikai. For bankai, you need the materialization and submission of your zanpakuto. It usually takes 10 years but with these you'll do it 3 days," Yoruichi added.

Yoruichi went on to explain that Ichigo has probably already experienced materializing his zanpakuto during his fight with Kenpachi, and some other things.

Shigeru frowned, "_Now that I think about it...I don't think I've ever materialized Hiryu Raitora. Will that be a problem?_"

"Just stab you zanpakuto into this and it will forcibly materialize the soul. Then I will use my power to keep it materialized. The time limit is 3 days, but you only have one chance at this. Before the time is up, you will have to beat Zangetsu and Hiryu Raitora into submission," Yoruichi declared to the two.

She was getting ready to say something else, but Ichigo cut her off stabbing the doll. Shigeru's eyes widened as she finally got to see the spirit of Zangetsu―well at least half― in person. The black dressed man with the fluttering cloak glared down at Ichigo.

"You recover fast...Ichigo," he declared smoothly from his spot behind the boy.

Ichigo turned to face the spirit in shock.

Yoruichi watched the spirit, "Did you hear everything?"

"Of course," he replied to the woman.

Yoruichi glanced away, "Then you will choose the method of battle. You can begin immediately."

Zangetsu dropped to one knee as he placed a hand to the ground. The ground surged with his energy, and hundreds of swords scattered across the training area.

Ichigo's eyes widened, "What is this?"

"One of these swords is the real Zangetsu. Only that can defeat me. If you want to beat me into submission, you must find it before I kill you, and then defeat me with it," the spirit declared before distancing himself from the boy.

They both grabbed a sword before charging to each other, clashing the swords against one another.

Yoruichi turned her attention to Shigeru as she was preparing to stab her blades into the Tenshintai. She raised a hand to stop the girl, much to Shigeru's confusion.

"We need to have a quick discussion before I let you start," Yoruichi motioned for her to follow her to a different location, far from the clashing master and sword.

Once they were far away from the other Yoruichi placed the doll on the ground, before sitting down. She motioned for Shigeru to do the same.

"Um, Yoruichi, what is this all about…," Shigeru asked as she crossed her legs.

The shape shifting ex-captain scanned the other in front of her, "Do you remember anything from earlier today?"

"Do you mean fighting Kenpachi," the younger woman's brows furrowed in confusion.

Yoruichi remained aloof, "No...later than that."

"I...I don't know what you mean. All I remember is fighting Kenpachi, passing out, and then waking up here," Shigeru listed trying to remember if she'd woken up before the last half hour.

Yoruichi frowned slightly, "_So she was indeed sleepwalking. There's no way she'd remember…_"

Shigeru didn't like the current atmosphere. The tension was making her nervous.

She gripped her robes tightly, "Did...did I do something bad?"

"It seems that we need to be careful with you, Shigeru. That ability you have might be more dangerous than we believe. I know it's a hard request to fulfill, but try to _not_ to get mortally wounded. At least, until we have time to help you train that power properly," Yoruichi explained.

Shigeru frowned, leaning forward, "What the hell did I do in my sleep, Yoruichi?"

"...You kind of went into some weird trance and tried to absorb Byakuya's reiryoku―," the woman laughing nervously.

"What?"

"At some point, I thought you were going to kiss him to suck his energy―"

Shigeru's face flared up in embarrassment, "Stop joking! I'd never!"

"Alright, alright, you weren't going to kiss him, but you did try to hug him," the woman chuckled.

Shigeru pouted, "Okay, I can believe that...I don't make any promises but I'll try not to almost die again."

She crossed her arms over her chest, as she thought over the information Yoruichi gave her. It was odd for her to go into whatever state she had taken while unconscious. It unnerved her that she went hunting strong people down to drain them of their energy, especially since she did it unconsciously.

"_If it wasn't for Yoruichi, who knows what would of happened_," she thought grimly.

Yoruichi patted the girl on her head, tussling her hair.

"Don't worry, Shigeru. It was just a defense mechanism. Now let's get you ready for bankai training," she grinned at the girl.

She stood up grabbing the doll. Shigeru looked at the doll nervously.

"Will this work right even if I haven't really materialized my zanpakuto on my own before," the brunette asked as she glanced at her swords.

Yoruichi blinked and put a finger to her lower lip, "Hmm, well I don't think it should be a problem. When it comes to shinigami techniques you're a genius, a prodigy even…"

Shigeru perked up at that.

"You've mastered Shunpo in a couple days, you were a master of Hakuda within a month of acquiring shinigami powers...I can't even imagine how amazing you'd be once you learn Kido and Bakudo…," the woman listed off.

Shigeru frowned, "When have I used hakuda?"

"All the time! You honestly didn't know what the technique you used to strengthen yourself during combat was called all this time," Yoruichi blinked at the girl.

"No…," Shigeru admitted as she grinned at the woman.

Yoruichi sighed as she shook her head, "I swear, you and Ichigo are two-halves of the same idiot..."

"Yeah!"

"Alright, enough chit-chat! Do you wish to achieve bankai or not," Yoruichi declared.

Shigeru narrowed her eyes, determination blazing within them. She pulled out blades and stabbed them into the Tenshintai doll. The doll exploded as Hiryu Raitora appeared beside her in their animal forms. They were slightly smaller than how they appeared in her inner world, especially the dragon-woman, but they were still huge.

She smiled at the spirits, "Hey, guys!"

The spirits all, but glared at the girl. She sweat-dropped.

"I suspect that you're upset with me…," Shigeru laughed nervously at the heated spirits.

They turned to Yoruichi and in unison declared, "We shall start right away."

The Shihoin heiress nodded her head.

The two-spirits glowed as they quickly shifted to their human forms. The two wasted no time circling Shigeru, ensnaring her in their chain. They slid to a stop on opposite ends of their master. Shigeru grit her teeth as they pulled the chain taunt.

"I'm having a serious case of deja vu right now," she grunted.

The dragon and tiger used their free hands to punch the ground where they stopped. Something erupted from the ground, cutting off the view from the rest of the training area. Shigeru turned her head to check out the walls erecting themselves from the ground. The walls slowly morphed into giant mirrors. She looked down at her feet noticing the ground smoothing out. It looked like hardwood, she blinked rapidly at the suddenly change in terrain. The chains around her loosened, as the two spirits stood to their full height, still brooding.

"A dance studio…," Shigeru noted as she scanned the area turning her body in a circle.

Her zanpakuto spirits enclosed her in a giant perimeter of mirrors. It looked similar to the dance studio she―Shigeru― used to frequently take lessons in, before she stopped because of her parents death…

She glanced at Hiryu Raitora.

"Why...why here," she glared at the spirits.

The dragon woman crossed her arms, "There is a part of yourself that you've been repressing, a part of yourself that once brought you such happiness."

"There are two things that you loved that made you...you," the were-tiger said knowingly.

Shigeru placed her hands on her hips as she coldly regarded them, "One of those things led to the death of my parents. I love it no longer…"

"Well that's unfortunate because no matter how much you try to deny it. Dancing makes up a portion of your soul...of us," dragon-woman said softly as she placed a hand to her chest.

Shigeru turned her back on the spirits in frustration, but she could still see their reflection in the mirror.

The were-tiger took a step forward, purple lightning crackling around him, "If you hope to beat us into submission you will have to combine the _two_ things you love while harnessing all the reiatsu in your very being. You can't defeat us with one alone."

"There has to be unity in your being if you want to defeat us, little one," the dragon-woman stepped forward, her claws igniting in blue flames.

Shigeru glared at the two over her shoulder, clenching her fists.

"We're sorry, but this time we will _not_ be holding back," the two jumped forward to attack the girl.

She jumped above the two as they struck the ground she was previously standing. Shigeru narrowly missed the chain that tried to wrap around her ankle. She knocked it away back flipping through the air. Once she landed firmly on the ground, the two were on her so fast she couldn't evade.

The were-tiger dropped to his back, much to her confusion, lightning focused on his legs as he started to break-dance. As he windmilled his purple lightning created shock-waves as he spun his legs above him. Shigeru screamed as the electricity coursed through her.

"_That hurts way more than last time,_" she grunted.

The dragon-woman pirouette over to the frozen girl, blue flames encircling her as she spun, when she got close to the teen the spirits flame focused at the tips of her clawed fingers and toes. She punched Shigeru in her gut, the flames erupting around the girl.

Shigeru screamed as she felt the woman's fist burning her already injured stomach. She kicked the woman, only to be blocked by her powerful leg. The dragon back flipped away, landing in the fourth position of ballet.

Shigeru grabbed her stomach glaring at the spirit.

She moved forward to attack the woman, but the tiger intersected her in a guarded position as he jabbed the teen. Shigeru quickly blocked the jab, retaliating with an uppercut to his chin.

"Why does it have to be like this?! I made a vow that I wouldn't dance after what happened," she yelled at the spirits as she tried to catch her breath.

The dragon-woman glared at the teen, "Do you not wish to get stronger? You can't do that if you keep closing off a part of yourself!"

"Ichigo will surpass you and you'll just end up on the sidelines! Is that what you want? You'll never be able to protect any of the people you care about if you continue down this path," the were-tiger yelled as he bared his fangs at the girl.

"I've been doing just fine protecting them," Shigeru yelled as she charged the spirits.

They looped their chain around the girl, slamming her in front of one of the mirrors.

"Look at yourself! Look at what happened to _you_ in your pursuit to protect them," the tiger yelled.

Shigeru looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was bandaged up like a mummy. Her wound reopened from being tossed around. Dark circles under her eyes, and she knew deep scars now marred her skin underneath the wrappings. Her hair was a bird's nest. Overall, she looked like a hot mess.

The dragon-woman pulled the chain causing Shigeru to fly in her direction so she could glare down into the girl's brown eyes.

"You almost _died_. What good is it to protect others if you can't even protect yourself," the golden eyed dragon hissed.

Shigeru opened her mouth to say something, but closed it.

She didn't want to admit that the spirit had a point. She was being hypocritical. Shigeru once berated Ichigo for doing the very thing she did earlier that day. She had barely known how to channel her reiatsu to create her armor-like skin against Kenpachi, and as a result of trying to protect Ichigo she ended up seriously injured.

She turned her face away from the spirit ashamed.

Shigeru gave up dancing when her parents died. They loved to go to her recitals, they didn't mind that she went through so many genres of dance, and supported her as much as they supported her love for martial arts. Even when she wanted to get a part-time job to pay for classes herself, they told her not to worry. They loved her and loved watching the smile on her face as she danced for them―for _herself_.

Shigeru closed her eyes.

Once they were gone she gave up the two things she loved doing more than anything in the world. She only used martial arts as a way to vent her emotions, starting fights, only using her skills when she felt anger. She buried anything related to dance in a trunk in her closet, never to touch it again, wanting to forget it all together.

She used hakuda to strengthen her body forcing her limbs to move in her bindings.

But she was starting to understand. Shigeru needed to move past this resentment. It was only blocking her true potential.

Her eyes shot open as she broke the chains surrounding her. The spirits eyes widened as she distanced herself from the teen. The were-tiger quickly running to her side as they observed their masters resolve. Shigeru flipped her hair over her shoulder as her mouth curved into a smirk. She pulled the bandages from her head, ripping off a piece to tie her hair in a high ponytail.

"Come, Hiryu Raitora! I'll defeat you with everything I've got," she declared confidently.

The spirits nodded their heads, "As you wish!"

They charged at each other.

_Some hours later_

Shigeru will admit that she was rusty in the art of dance, but _damn_ did it feel good. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her robes tattered, her wounds reopened along with a few new ones from Hiryu Raitora, her makeshift ponytail gone, hair fluttering about. She huffed as she tried to catch her breath.

She observed how the two fought. The tiger half as Hiryu Raitora combined hip-hop and street dancing moves into his lightning attacks, while the dragon half was using ballet and contemporary dance to fan her flames. When they joined in their pursuits against Shigeru they would swing dance. All of that on top of their elemental abilities and combat prowess made fighting them an awful experience.

She spat out some blood that was collecting in her mouth, "T_hey were serious about going all out...but I've got their attack patterns down. Now…_"

Shigeru charged at the two spirits.

"_For the hard part!_"

Hiryu Raitora jumped at the girl before vanishing. The doll falling to the ground in their place. The mirrored wall crumbled away.

Shigeru blinked, "Are you serious! I was _jus_t about to show them what I was capable of!"

"Hey, Shigeru!"

She turned to see Yoruichi with her hair down waving to her.

"That's enough for the day. Day one complete," the purple haired woman grinned.

Shigeru was dragged over to the hot spring where Ichigo was already submerged. She quickly undressed as Yoruichi called out to the boy.

"Ichigo, how's the water," the woman asked as she kicked her shoes off.

Ichigo mumbled incoherently giving the woman an O.K.

Yoruichi slipped off her pants, "Good, I'll take a bath too…"

Ichigo spit out the water he was holding in his mouth.

"What the hell are you doing? Why're taking you pants off," he coughed.

Shigeru laughed as she stripped behind a rock, "Chill out, Ichigo! You might pop a blood vessel or something!"

"You're coming in too," he yelled a blush lighting his face.

Shigeru tossed her bloody clothes to the side, "Well, yeah! We don't have time to bath separately. Just think of it as a family day at an onsen!"

Before he could yell, Shigeru ran and cannon balled into the water. She let herself sink into the hot spring as the waters healed her wounds. Resurfacing for air, she grinned at the blushing Ichigo, who covered his eyes.

"Hey, look! Now you've seen a naked girl! Congratulations," Yoruichi mused in her cat form.

Ichigo yelled, "That's nothing to be congratulated for, idiot!"

Shigeru swam over to the opposite side of Yoruichi and leaned her arms over the edge of spring, so Ichigo wouldn't get even more embarrassed.

"You can uncover your eyes now. You won't be able to see anything," the brown skinned girl chuckled as she leaned on her folded arms.

He hesitantly lowered his hands from his eyes and sighed in relief.

Yoruichi grinned, "You're secretly disappointed, aren't you? Pervert."

"Don't make me drown you," he glared at the black cat.

They all relaxed into the healing waters. As Ichigo and Yoruichi conversed, Shigeru was being lulled to sleep by the warm waters. She closed her eyes from the warmth and the strain from the day.

"_I'll just rest my eyes for a couple minutes_," she hummed as she drifted off.

Shigeru remained asleep the rest of the night. Yoruichi dried and changed her, before throwing a thin blanket over her.

_Day Two of Bankai Training_

Shigeru was pushed Hiryu Raitora back. She had gotten used to incorporating dance into her fighting. That was the point of the mirrors, she studied their moves from them. She copied them, making sure she was doing it perfectly. Sweat dropped down the side of her face as she waited for the two to strike as the spirits pulled each other close, flames and electricity merging around them as they danced.

Were-tiger straight lifted the dragon woman off of the ground. Her legs send a strong wave similar to her Ryu no Kogeki, just laced with frizzling purple electricity. Shigeru back flipped in the air avoiding the blast.

"_I need to attack them, but without my blades how do I...unles_s," she glanced at her open palms.

She concentrated her reiatsu into her hands. They started to glow a purplish-blue, purple sparks popping from reiatsu. Shigeru grinned widely as she caught sight of Hiryu Raitora.

"_Because I'm always suppressing my reiatsu I've never known it's real nature. It's elemental...their attacks have always been my attacks_," she laughed to herself.

Shigeru punched the ground sending a shock-wave of flames and lightning. The wooden floor shattered revealing the warping ground beneath. The zanpakuto spirits jumped away to avoid the flames and electric pulses.

Shigeru flashed between them, grabbing the chain that connected them. She pulled at the chain, sending the two flying into each other. They grunted on impact. As they tried to push the other away, Shigeru appeared beside them jumping elegantly in the air, flames and electricity covering her body, as she aimed two powerful kicks to the spirits sending them flying into the mirrored walls.

She grinned at Hiryu Raitora as they glared at her.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," she grinned wildly.

_Day Three of Bankai Training_

Today was the last day to achieve her bankai, and it was the day of Rukia's execution. They had until noon. It was currently the break of dawn, which left a few hours for Shigeru to get this right. By her own calculations her reiatsu steadily rose to new heights over the last couple days. She bit her lip as she stared down her zanpakuto spirit, they were running around in circles. Sure, Shigeru was able to damage them now, but it wasn't enough.

"What are you waiting for, little one," the tiger yelled as he attempted to hammer kick the teen.

Shigeru quickly dodged and countered with a hook. She sensed the dragon approaching her from behind, she ran toward the woman and wrapped her legs around her. Using her body weight she spun around the woman's body before flipping her to the ground.

She hopped away from the dragon.

"_Ha! Black Widow would be proud! Now I have to think of a way to make them submit_," her thoughts raced as she placed her back against one of the mirrors.

The dragon got off of the ground, "You've come along quite well, little one. However, you're still forgetting to do something important…"

"_What is it? What am I forgetting_," she picked her brain for the answer.

The were-tiger appeared before her fist raised, she hopped on the man's shoulders in a handstand. She let the blue flames course through her arms into his shoulders. He growled in pain as she jumped away.

"_I've combined dance and martial arts, I've been utilizing my reiatsu, but what else did they tell me to do…_" she asked herself.

The tiger yelled, "Good! Good! But you're still not using all of your reiatsu, little one! Let it _explode_, then _compress_ it! You're capable of so much more than you know!"

Shigeru furrowed her brows at what the spirit just told her. She was pretty sure she was using all of her reiatsu, but compress?

"_What does he mean by compress_," she frowned but then her eyes widened in realization.

She had an idea, and hopefully it would work to finally defeat her zanpakuto.

Shigeru ran toward the two spirits. They both swiped their claws at her, but she dropped to the ground grabbing their linking chain.

"Like we'd fall for that again," the dragon yelled, looping the chain around the teens wrist and pulling tight.

Her counterpart doing the same. Shigeru grunted as they stretched her body out. She grinned widely.

"I was actually counting on it!"

She gripped the chains as her reiatsu exploded out of her body, reaching toward the roof of the training ground. She flipped the chains encircling the hands of the spirits, locking them in place. She closed her eyes concentrating on the reiatsu of her zanpakuto, willing it to come to her. The reiatsu from Hiryu Raitora seethed into the chain, rushing to Shigeru.

Their eyes widened in disbelief.

"_If I can steal that energy from people then the same should apply to any being with spiritual energy! Besides their reiatsu _is_ my reiatsu_," Shigeru proudly mused to herself.

The spirits slowly fell to their knees as their master drained them of their reiatsu. The reiatsu surrounding the girl growing in size the more she took.

Shigeru closed her eyes as she released her grip on the chains. The rest dropped from her as the spirits tried to regain their footing. Shigeru didn't notice her feature slowly changing.

"_Now...compress not suppress. Surround myself in my reiatsu. Turn it into something that can protect me...,_" she thought as her reiatsu shrank around her.

Her robes morphing into something else entirely as the purplish-blue reiatsu encased her. Hiryu Raitora looked at their master―their partner―proudly.

"Beautiful…," the tiger half grinned.

The dragon half chuckled, "She managed to do it…"

Shigeru opened her eyes and narrowed them forward.

"Our little one, is at peace with herself and us," she grinned lovingly at Shigeru.

Shigeru slammed her fist together.

"Let's finish this, Hiryu Raitora," she barked.

The two charged the girl with the last of their strength. Shigeru twirled around the dragon-woman, grabbing her by the wrist pulling her close. She forced the spirit to pretzel around her, before sweeping her foot under her legs, knocking her off balance. Once the woman was on the ground, Shigeru charged an electrifying punch, slamming her fist into the women's center. The spirit cried out as she was forced into the ground, forming a large crater.

Shigeru hopped out of the crater toward the were-tiger.

She quickly placed her hands on his shoulders, lifting off the ground she slung her body over each side of his body before sliding between his legs on her back. Hopping on her feet quickly, throwing her arms around his waist. She suplexed the larger man. Shigeru rolled from under him. He shakily stood to his feet, blood dripping down his snow-hair hair onto his chiseled chest.

Shigeru ran up to the man hitting him with a flurry of attacks. Jabbing and hooking him in the face, before gripping the back of the tiger's neck as she brought her knee up, knocking him in the face. He stumbled back holding his bloodied face.

Shigeru grinned as she wrapped her powerful legs around him, before slamming him to the ground.

The man stayed there motionlessly.

Shigeru huffed as she looked at the destruction around her.

"I...win..," she grinned widely.

She finally caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her eyes widened in wonder. She jumped over to the mirror, tentatively placing a hand on the mirror touching her reflection.

This was her new form. Her bankai.

She heard Hiryu Raitora whisper, "Well done…"

The mirrors slowly cracked, shattering into nothingness. Hiryu Raitora vanished as well, reverting back to the Tenshintai doll.

She blinked again in disbelief as she looked over her body still in it's bankai form. Her eyes twinkled with excitement.

"Holy hell…!"

Shigeru flashed over to where Ichigo was. He was still in the midst of fighting Zangetsu.

"Ichigo! Look at me! I look freaking awesome," she waved at the teen excitedly from the sidelines.

Ichigo glanced over at Shigeru, and did a double take. His eyes widened in wonder.

"...Damn," was the only thing he said, before Zangetsu attacked.

Shigeru flinched at the impact.

"Oh, that looked like it hurt… Sorry, Ichigo!"

**Author's Note: Whew, that was a lot, wasn't it? Shigeru's abilities keep getting curiouser and curiouser, aren't they. I purposely left out the description of Shigeru's new appearance. She will be getting her epic entrance, and then you'll know what her bankai looks like. Until next chapter! Let's watch our favorite Menace-Duo crash an execution! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: The time has come! The Great Battle of Sokyoku Hill! Are you guys excited to see Shigeru's bankai! Of course you are! Also, a couple of people asked about Renji last chapter, or rather the lack thereof (lol), I **_**didn't**_** forget about him. If you remember, Shigeru is on the opposite side of the train grounds **_**and**_** her view is cut off by the mirrors during her bankai training. She sensed him, but was far more focused on her own training to say hi. Plus, I actually mentioned him in the beginning of this chapter (I usually write the Author's Notes after finishing a chapter). You guys sure are attentive to detail haha (I love it!)! Well let's get to it! Also, I hope that everyone is and continue to be in good health! Enjoy!**

Chapter 11: Let's Start A Riot!

_Under Sokyoku Hill_

Our favorite menace to society was currently sitting on the ground getting herself in order for the battle ahead.

Shigeru was rebinding her chest and midsection after combing through her loose curls. She'd given up on trying to put it in a ponytail, and decided to for once leave it down during battle. It was almost time for the main event. Yoruichi had provided her with some new clothes since she basically destroyed her robes while fighting Hiryu Raitora to obtain her bankai. However, Shigeru was slightly embarrassed by the clothing presented to her by the shape-shifter.

She frowned as she held up the revealing white robes from Yoruichi's youth at arms length.

A long-sleeved kimono with a skirt that had slits all the way up to her where her hips would be.

She thought back to a little earlier when she was given the new clothes.

"_What the hell, Yoruichi! I'd be flashing everyone in that," she blushed as she threw the outfit back to her mentor._

_Yoruichi caught it with one hand and laughed, "Oh, come on! It'll be so cute on you!"_

"_I want pants! Give me a pair of your stretch pants," Shigeru pleaded, running a hand down her face._

_Yoruichi laughed as she waved the robes in her face, "Only had these pairs, and you've run through all my old Onmitsukido uniforms I had here, sooooo it's either clothes from when I was about your age or nothing!"_

_Shigeru pouted as she snatched the robes from her. _

"_Yay! My own personal mini-me," Yoruichi clapped happily._

_Shigeru grumbled, "That's all you really wanted…"_

Shigeru slipped on the black bodysuit she had to beg Yoruichi to give her before putting on the white kimono.

As she slipped on black thigh-high socks she thought, "_Renji, left a while long ago. Judging by his fluctuating reiatsu I'd say he's fighting Byakuya right now…_"

She put on the lightweight brown shoes that she was provided. She took a few testing steps, surprised that they fit perfectly. Shigeru tied the durable purple obi that she was given a couple days ago along with the golden cord around her waist.

Shigeru draped the hooded beige cloak with the Shihoin Clan's insignia over her shoulders as she felt Renji's reiatsu waver.

"_It's almost time…_," she narrowed her eyes grinning as she slipped on a pair of black arm bracers.

* * *

_On top of Sokyoku Hill_

Rukia was led to the bottom of the giant execution pole of the Sokyoku by the Kido Corps. She gazed solemnly as the captains arrived at the scene.

"Let's get started then…," Head Captain Yamamoto declared.

Rukia closed her eyes.

"Commence the ceremony," the old captain commanded.

Sui-Feng glanced around at the members in attendance. The only captains to show up were Kyoraku, Unohana, the Head Captain and herself along with their lieutenants.

"The attendance is horrible...only the 2nd, 4th, and 8th are here. Absences from the 5th, 11th, and 12th are expected, but what are the others thinking…," the petite woman commented.

She perked up when she noticed Byakuya walking to the group. Rukia's eyes widened as she looked at her brother.

"Brother…," she uttered.

The raven-haired man gave her the cold shoulder, not that she expected any less.

"Rukia Kuchiki."

She glanced over to Head Captain Yamamoto.

"Do you have any last words," he asked the falsely accused.

Rukia closed her eyes as the gentle breeze passed her. She opened her eyes gazing into the clear sky.

"Yes...just one thing...please send my friends back to the World of the Living. That's all I ask of you," she smiled sadly.

As the old man agreed to her last request. Isane shook her head in disappointment at the commander's blatant lie, but her captain explained that it was a cruel kindness. The Kido Corps step forth preparing to unseal the giant weapon of mass destruction.

"Release the seal of the Sokyoku," Yamamoto ordered.

The ropes binding the giant halberd unraveled and went plummeting off the edge of the cliff side, landing it giant spikes. She stared at the weapon with her head held high. Rukia glanced over to Byakuya and smiled softly.

"Thank you, brother…," she stated.

Three cubes emerged from the stand. Her bindings disappeared as they forced her to outstretch her arms like magnets. She floated into the air to the top of the pole. Rukia looked on without fear as the giant halberd set itself ablaze, morphing into a giant phoenix.

"Kiko…"

The captains looked over to Head Captain Yamamoto as he explained what was happening with the Sokyoku.

"This is the true form of the Sokyoku's spearhead, and the executioner of the grand penalty. After it pierces through the criminal's body the execution will be completed."

The captains and lieutenants looked on as the heat from the weapon licked their flesh. Rukia glared at the Sokyoku.

"_I am not afraid. I am content with my life...meeting Renji and the others. Adopted by brother...Kaien's guidance…_," she declared.

Rukia solemnly gazes on.

"_Then Ichigo's rescue attempt...no pain, no sadness. There's nothing for my heart to linger to in this world…_"

She thought of all the important people who she's come to love in her life thanking them for being a part of her journey.

A tear slid down her face as she smiled, "Thank you and goodbye…"

She closed her eyes as the Sokyoku moved to attack.

Rukia felt nothing happen much to her confusion. She slowly opened her eyes. They widened once she saw the smiling face of Ichigo. Covered in bandages and only half of the top of his robes. The cape of the Shihoin Clan draped over his shoulders. He was holding back the Sokyoku with his Zangetsu.

He grinned at the smaller woman, "Yo!"

"Ichigo," she called out in surprise.

Down on the ground the captain looked on in surprise.

"He stopped it! The Sokyoku's destructive power equals to a million zanpakuto! It was stopped by just one zanpakuto," Sui-Feng questioned.

"What is he?!"

As the two in the air argued and the captains murmured amongst themselves, Shigeru flashed a few feet away from Sui-Feng unnoticed. She placed a hand up to her forehead to block the intense light the Sokyoku was emitting. She whistled loudly, causing the group next to her to flinch in surprise.

She grinned, "That's one _big_ bird!"

They gawked at the mysterious intruder.

"Sorry, did I ruin the moment," she laughed mockingly as she tilted her head.

"W-Who are you? Another Ryoka," Sui-Feng yelled as she ran to attack the girl, but stopped once she noticed the Shihoin insignia.

"_The Shihoin Clan?!_"

Shigeru grinned widely, "Ryoka this! Ryoka that! Is that all you people care about?"

She lowered the hood to the cloak revealing her curls and healthy glowing brown skin as she waved at the group before flashing away. The phoenix was preparing to attack again. Ichigo flew toward the charging bird, but a cord circled it's neck. Ukitake ran forward, slamming the Shihoin Shield to the ground in front of him. The end of the cord slammed back into the ground. Captain Kyoraku jumped over to his long time friend, placing his hand on the cord's handle, Nanao at his side.

"About time you got here," the man grinned at his companion.

Isane yelled in surprise, "Captain Kyoraku!"

Ukitake frowned, "Sorry, I was a little delayed."

Shigeru appeared by Ukitake, hands on her hips. The white haired man blinked at her sudden appearance but smiled gently at her nonetheless.

"Why, hello! We meet again," he smiled and gave her a quick one hand salute.

She nodded at the man before she peered at the shield.

"I seriously need to ask Yoruichi how people get their hands on her clan's artifacts so easily. It's such a security risk," Shigeru chuckled.

Kyoraku blinked at the girl and grinned, "Whose the pretty lady?"

"Focus on getting rid of Big Bird over there first. Then if we live introductions can happen over a _much_ needed drink," she grinned as she cocked her chin toward the phoenix in the sky.

Sui-Feng yelled, "They're trying to destroy the Sokyoku! Stop them!"

However, it was too late. The two slammed their zanpakutos into the shield. Their energy traveled up the cord around the bird's neck, once there it completely destroyed the creature. Ichigo wasted no time jumping on to the execution pole, swinging Zangetsu over his head, his eyes glowing blue as he gathered his reiatsu.

Shigeru flew toward the execution pole, "That jerk! We said we'd destroy it together!"

Ichigo stabbed the pole, sending his immense reiatsu through it, not only destroying it but putting a hole through the bottom of the cliff.

Shigeru was almost blown away by the shock wave while flying through the air. She quickly caught her balance as she flew up to Ichigo, who was currently holding Rukia under his arm like a misbehaving child. Shigeru landed next to him and punched him in the head.

"Ow! What the hell?!"

"Shigeru!" Rukia cheered, happy to see the girl was her normal self this time.

"We were supposed to do that together," she said through clenched teeth as she noogied the teen.

Rukia laughed at Shigeru's antics. Shigeru blinked down at Rukia, before smiling warmly.

"You didn't really think we'd let you die," Shigeru asked as she patted the woman on her head.

She glanced down at the captain and lieutenants down below as they were still reeling from the shock of what Ichigo had just accomplished. Shigeru made eye contact with Byakuya, who coldly gazed at her and then Ichigo.

"Ichigo...Shigeru," Rukia called out quietly.

They glanced over to the smaller woman.

"What are you going to do now? Can we really disappear with so many people watching," she asked downtrodden.

Shigeru and Ichigo glanced at each other and grinned.

"Run," they said in unison.

Rukia's eyes shot open, "What?! There's no way we can run! They're captains!"

Ichigo scratched his ear with his pinky, "Then we'll beat them up, and run."

Shigeru narrowed her eyes at Ichigo, "You really think it's that easy, huh? Remind me, what happened last time?"

"We'll improvise," he laughed nervously.

He smiled onward, "I'll save everyone that has helped us and run away together!"

They heard ruckus from down below. They looked down to see Renji knocking out the Kido Corps. He looked up to where they were currently standing.

"Rukia," he bellowed.

Shigeru waved at the man, "Renji! You're alive!"

Rukia smiled brightly at her childhood friend, "Oh, Renji! I'm so happy to see―"

"Renjiiiii," Ichigo called out as he lifted Rukia in the air like a ball by the white slash of her robes.

She started panicking, "Ichigo! Wait! What are you doing?"

Renji's eyes widened as he noticed what the orange-haired teen was about to do.

"You fool, don't you dare," the red-haired man paled.

Ichigo smiled as he yelled, "Catch her!"

He pitched the woman over to the awaiting lieutenant. Shigeru couldn't hold back her laughter as the smaller woman screamed in absolute horror.

She nudged the boy in his arm, "You didn't have to toss her like that!"

"It's just quicker this way," he shrugged his shoulders.

Renji managed to safely catch Rukia as they went crashing to the ground. They both glared at the orange-haired teen above them.

"You're such an idiot, Ichigo!"

"What were you going to do if I didn't catch her?! You bastard!"

Ichigo barked, "Take her away!"

"Wha…"

"Don't just stand there! Take her away now," he yelled, swinging Zangetsu.

Shigeru smiled down at the grounded pair, "That's your job! Protect her with your life!"

Renji grabbed Rukia and took off running. Ichigo smirked as he glanced over to Shigeru. She smiled as she shrugged her shoulders.

Down below, Sui-Feng was having none of that.

She ordered the lieutenant's present, "Why are you all standing there like fools?! Catch them! All lieutenants after them!"

Isane and Chojiro looked to their captain's for confirmation. After getting the okay, they chased after the two fugitives.

Ichigo and Shigeru flashed from the execution pole, intersecting the lieutenants.

Ichigo planted Zangetsu in the ground.

"Get out of my way," Omaeda yelled.

Ichigo looked on as the charged, while Shigeru smirked deviously as she cracked her knuckles.

The three released their zanpakuto's.

Ichigo punched through Omaeda's morning-star Gegetsuburi, knocking the man out. Shigeru grabbed Chojiro's wrist to block his Gonryomaru, before uppercutting the older man, sending him flying. Isane was frozen in place, as Ichigo used the heel of his palm to knock the wind out of the taller woman. As the lieutenants slowly fell to the ground, Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu, blocking the strike of Byakuya.

"I can see you, Byakuya Kuchiki," he grinned.

"Why…"

Ichigo looked the man straight on.

"Why do you try to save Rukia so many times," the captain asked.

Shigeru flashed behind the man, swords drawn, preparing to strike him, "We're her friends! Why wouldn't we?"

Byakuya dodged her attack, jumping back to distance himself from the two. Ichigo pointed his over-sized blade at the man. Shigeru got into a defensive stance, Hiryu Raitora held high.

"Exactly! You're her brother, why aren't you," he questioned the man.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes, "What a trivial question. I could explain, but someone like you would never understand."

Shigeru stared at the raven-haired man. She knew very well that his choice to sit by and let his sister-in-law be killed before him was actually tearing him apart inside. He didn't _want_ to see her executed, but he made a vow to himself many years ago…

"Now is not the time for questions…"

She gripped her swords a little tighter.

He flashed to the orange haired teen, "Let's fight."

Byakuya crashed his blade down against Ichigo's. They strained against each other before Shigeru jumped over Ichigo's shoulders aiming a kick for the man's face.

Byakuya slid back to avoid the girl's attack. He narrowed his eyes at the Menace-Duo.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Shigeru Kuroi, I will kill you. As for Rukia, next time I see her I'll kill her myself," he promised the two.

Ichigo met the man's gaze, "I won't allow that."

He tossed his cloak to the side. Shigeru grinned as she did the same with hers.

"Neither will I," she grinned at the captain in all her glory.

Ichigo declared, "That's why we're here!"

The captain took in Shigeru's appearance, "_She and Yoruichi favor each other a little too much for my liking…"_

He charged at the two teens, this time aiming for Shigeru. She blocked his initial blow with her dragon blade, going for a strike to his side with her tiger blade. He shunpo-ed behind the girl aiming to strike her, but she did the same to him grinning madly. Byakuya grabbed her by the wrist, tossing her into the incoming Ichigo. They both went tumbling to the ground. Byakuya watched as the two untangled their limbs from each other.

"You two children hope to defeat me? How laughable," the man commented.

A vein on Shigeru's temple throbbed as she grinned menacingly, "Why you…!"

The brunette jumped to her feet. She pointed her blades to the ground below.

"Twirl!"

Twirling her blades upward as they transformed into her bladed tonfas, chains extended.

"Hiryu Raitora!"

She lunged toward the man to attack, but Ichigo grabbed her by the back of her robes and tossed her behind him.

"I want a go at him," he yelled before lunging at the captain instead.

Shigeru glared at the boy and yelled, "Don't hog all the fun!"

The three scuffled against each other. Despite it being two to one, Byakuya was easily handling the two. However, he still couldn't land a definite blow on either one. He knocked the two away. Ichigo planted his feet into the ground to help slide to a stop. Shigeru landed gracefully on her feet.

"Interesting… you were able to master shunpo as well. However―," Byakuya was cut off by Ichigo.

The boy slung his zanpakuto over his shoulder, "You've only been casually analyzing us, but do you really think that's a good idea?"

Shigeru usually hated when Ichigo riled up his opponents, but she'll make an exception this time as she joined in, twirling her tonfas in her hands casually.

"You haven't been able to land a scratch on either of us, ya know! Is this the best you can do, Little Byakuya," she mocked the man.

He glared fiercely at her as she used that hated nickname that Yoruichi gave him in his youth.

"Hurry up and use bankai," Ichigo glared at the captain.

Byakuya frowned at the two.

Ichigo then went on a rant berating Byakuya for his attitude toward Rukia and the whole situation in general.

Shigeru rolled her eyes, "_He's so dramatic!_"

She perked up as Byakuya brought his sword up to his face.

"Scatter…"

She pointed her tonfas toward the man.

His zanpakuto glowed pink as it divided into a thousand cherry blossom petals.

Flames charged on her black blade, and lightning charged on her white blade.

"Senbonzakura."

The tiny scattered blades quickly approached the two ryoka. Ichigo grabbed Zangetsu, swinging over his shoulder releasing a powerful Getsuga Tensho, as Shigeru discharged Ryu to Tora no Taifuu.

Byakuya's eyes widened in utter shock as the attacks brushed either side of him, continuing clear off the cliff ledge. The tekko on his left hand fell to the ground along with some droplets of blood as a result of Getsuga Tensho. He glared at the two teens.

"What were those blasts? Was that the ability of your zanpauktos," Byakuya questioned the two.

He observed the destruction left from the blasts the two let off. Ichigo's attack splitting the cliff in two, and Shigeru's attack scorching the earth. He glanced down to his right arm which frizzled with purple electricity.

"Yeah," Ichigo declared before explaining how his attack works before giving him the name of his attack.

Shigeru didn't bother explaining her attack as she placed each blade on her shoulders, "Ryu to Tora no Taifuu. I'm a dual wielder with two different elements that make up my reiatsu."

Ichigo stabbed Zangetsu in the ground before him.

"Fight us with your bankai, Byakuya! We'll definitely defeat you," Ichigo demanded.

Byakuya glared at the orange-haired teen as he lifted his sword in the air. It's tip facing the ground.

"_Here it comes_," Shigeru narrowed her eyes as she gripped her tonfas.

He dropped his Senbonzakura and it sunk into the ground. Two rows of giant blades emerged from the ground behind him.

"Bankai... Senbonzakura Kageyoshi!"

The giant blades scatter into millions of pink cherry blossoms. Ichigo gripped Zangetsu and let loose another Getsuga Tensho to block incoming petals. Shigeru hopped into the air releasing a flurry of Ryu no Kogeki as she flew to a spot behind the man. She swiped her blades sending a wave of both her blades signature attacks. As she did that Ichigo aimed a Getsuga to his front.

"Naive…," Byakuya declared.

A shield of petals appeared both in front and behind him. The petals surrounded Ichigo before they dropped down, sending him crashing to the ground.

Shigeru grit her teeth as Byakuya turned his attention to her. She quickly dodged the large scale petals attacks. Shigeru shunpo-ed, evading as many as she could before the sky was covered by the tiny blades. As the petals closed in on her she let the flame-like reiatsu seep from her body. She crossed her blades in front of her to protect herself as she went crashing to the ground near Ichigo.

As Byakuya explained the strength of his sword, he peered down at the two craters he had created while attacking the two.

"The strength of your zanpakutos are strong, but it's impossible to dodge Senbonzakura's attack with such a slow technique," the man announced to the two.

Ichigo huffed covered in blood.

"Damn...I thought I had it, but I guess not...it's only logical though," he muttered.

Shigeru hopped over to Ichigo's crater, spotting a set of new cuts to her exposed legs and a cut on her cheek, dripping small droplets of blood on her tattered white kimono.

"Duh, it's impossible to beat a bankai with just a shikai," she looked down at her companion.

Ichigo huffed, "We may have underestimated him, right?"

"_You_ did. I know what I'm up against," she scoffed as she poked out a hip.

Byakuya glared down at the two, "Watch your words, brat! You speak as if you've acquired bankai."

"Yeah…," Shigeru shrugged her shoulders as a wide grin stretched across her face.

The Kuchiki Head glared down at the teens as they laughed amongst themselves.

"That's exactly what we're implying, Byakuya Kuchiki," Ichigo yelled as he lifted off of the ground.

Ichigo stumbled to his feet, as Shigeru stepped closer to him.

The captain had to make sure he had heard them correctly as he slowly asked, "What did you say?"

"Oh, I think you heard him perfectly," Shigeru looked up to the captain.

Ichigo chuckled with his head hanging low, "You don't believe me, do you? It doesn't matter if I tell you a 2nd or 3rd time if you refuse to believe my words…"

He grinned up at the man, determination glowing in his eyes.

"How about if you witness it with your own eyes?!"

Byakuya watched the teen wordlessly.

"Don't blink, now," Shigeru warned him as she put a little distance between Ichigo and herself as she stood to his right.

She dropped to her left knee, Hiryu Raitora crossed in an X in front of her chest. Her eyes glowed purplish-blue.

Ichigo lifted Zangetsu and pointed the blade away from him.

"Watch carefully...this is my bankai," Ichigo declared.

He let out a war cry as he stomped a foot in front of him. His reiatsu circled around him, his eyes glowing light blue.

Byakuya observed the two, "_Impossible...only the strongest and elite in shinigami history can obtain it. Even in the noble families only one can gain it every few generations. Those who obtain bankai have always had remarkable roles in the history of the Soul Society. That is the significance of bankai_."

Shigeru continued to let her reiatsu rise, releasing every drop of it. Ichigo pointed Zangetsu in front of him, the ribbon at the hilt of the sword wrapped itself around his arm.

"_But...what about them? They became shinigami by draining the powers of certified shinigami. Not only are they not nobles, but they aren't even real shinigami. Why do they speak of bankai with such ease…_"

Ichigo glared up at the man as he placed his other arm on his forearm. Shigeru closed her eyes in concentration, blue flames circling around her, dark storm clouds forming above her in the sky, brown hair whipping around her.

"_And why do they emit such immense reiatsu? The strength is almost as if…_"

Shigeru opened her eyes. Ichigo gripped her arm tightly.

"Bankai!"

Ichigo released an enhanced Getsuga Tensho as purple lightning struck Shigeru from above and the blue flames erupted up from the ground creating a column of the elements around her. She reabsorbed the reiatsu into her body. Shigeru's body glowed purplish-blue as her body transformed.

Dust covered the entirety of Sokyoku Hill. Byakuya's eyes widened as he took in the new appearance of the two once the dust cleared.

The two stood back to back glaring at the elitist captain.

Ichigo now donned a form fitting, long-sleeved, ankle-length black shihakusho with a red lining. His Zangetsu shrank in size, becoming a solid black long sword. It's cross guard had four prongs bent out forming a manji.

"Tensa Zangetsu," he announced smoothly.

Shigeru was even more impressive. She was almost an entirely different being.

Her normally caramel brown skin a shade or two darker. Her long brown hair turned snow white along with her eyelashes and eyebrows. It was pulled into four intricate braids that formed a flat bun in the back of her head, her chest-length bangs parted down the middle framing her face. Four black dragon horns, the third being the longest, were placed on each side of her head forming a crown-like head piece. Her eyes were striking, the outer rim a molten gold fading into blue around her slitted pupils, purple lines below her eyes. Two purple stripes decorated each of her cheeks, the top stripe slightly shorter than the bottom. Her ears pointed impishly, a pair of black fang shaped earrings decorating her ears.

A black, sleeveless, armored bodysuit replaced the white kimono she previously wore into battle. The neck of the bodysuit extended over her jaw forming two fang shapes just under her lips covering her chin, and completely covering her nape and neck. A triangle shaped opening exposed the top of her cleavage. The gauntlets that covered her arms extended just over her elbows encased in obsidian scales that extended to the top of her black clawed hands. Her knuckles taking a similar appearance to MMA gloves. Raitora's white blades shrank protruding from her forearms.

Her outer thighs were also covered in black armored scales leaving her inner and front of her thighs exposed. The scales extend to her to her ankles, revealing her bare black clawed feet. Hiryu's blackened blades shrank as well, protruding from her calves. Tufts of white fur covered her wrist, ankles, and the sleeveless part of the bodysuit. Two white chains were wrapped over and under her shoulders, dangling to her feet. She sported a thick white tiger tail with black scales gathering where it protruded from her backside, and some scattered along it here and there. Any exposed skin on her sported purple tiger stripes.

Shigeru grinned revealing her sharp, elongated canines, "Hiryu to Raitora: Saiai no Odori Musume!"

Byakuya blinked in disbelief at the new appearance of the two. He focused on Ichigo, eyeing Tensa Zangetsu.

"What is that...thing? That small object is your bankai? Isn't it just the regular form of your zanpakuto," he asked.

He then gawked at Shigeru's form and didn't know what to think of the girl's transformation. A part of him was blown away by its beauty as well as curious. However, it still wasn't the grand finisher a bankai was supposed to be.

"...And you, what exactly is this transformation you've performed? It can't possibly be a bankai," he glared at the girl.

Shigeru placed a hand on her hip and cocked it to the side, wordlessly smirking at the man.

Byakuya was finally fed up with the two imitation shinigami, "I see...just like with the execution. Now with bankai. You really enjoy stepping on our pride."

A wave of blossoms appeared behind the man, heading straight for the two.

"Then I shall carve onto your bodies the penalty for violating our pride!"

Ichigo flashed in front of Byakuya, blade to his throat before the man could blink. Shigeru leaned on the captain, back to back, her bladed arm pointed up to his jugular.

Byakuya's eyes widened as he gazed down at Ichigo.

"Does this 'pride' thing have to do with Rukia's execution," Ichigo asked.

Shigeru glanced over her shoulder at the man silently observing the man with the eyes of a trained predator as Byakuya analyzed the situation.

"_In an instant they vanished from my sight. I didn't even have time to react...how is this possible,_" he frowned.

The two backed off of the man, distancing themselves from the captain. Shigeru jumped over Ichigo's side once again, eyeing the man.

"Hey, enough chit-chat! Let's get this show on the road," she barked agitated.

Shigeru was currently the combined incarnation of both her zanpakuto spirits. Usually, during battle she would exhibit some traits of the spirits while fighting, like the dragon's grace and the tiger's playful ferocity. Right now, she was taking on major character traits like the tiger's viciousness, and the dragon's bad habit of being easily agitated.

Byakuya eyed the two and glared, "You should have taken the chance to slit my throat while you had the chance. Don't count on getting another one!"

He spent his blossoms crashing at the two. Ichigo hopped out of the way, however Shigeru stood her ground.

The blades crashed into the girl, but nothing happened. No damage was caused. The tiny blades shattered as they made contact with her body. Shigeru's immense reiatsu compressed into an impenetrable armor around her body. That was one of the main aspects of her bankai. _Nothing _could harm her now as far as she knew.

Ichigo landed into a crouch in front of Byakuya, going to slash him, but a shield composed of Senbonzakura's petals appeared between the two. He quickly flashed behind the man to attempt his attack again, dodging the petals.

"_Such speed! Senbonzakura can't keep up_," the raven-haired man noticed as he glanced at the teen.

Shigeru appeared above Byakuya, fist engulfed in blue flames. Byakuya flinched, pointing his hand at the girl, as he continued to focus his gaze on Ichigo.

The petals quickly approached the hybrid girl from all sides. She elegantly danced around the approaching petals with the grace of the best ballerina. The flames that engulfed her hands burnt the tiny blades from existence as she spun around, the flames trailing behind her hands with every movement. The petals attempted to engulf her yet again.

"Ryu no Mai: Ikari," she grinned widely.

The flames on her fist increased in size as she aimed a flurry of punches into the air, sending blue flame bullets in all directions, extinguishing the petals around her. The petals fluttered to the ground ablaze.

On the ground, Ichigo was showing off his newly acquired speed, creating several after images as he circled Byakuya, mocking him.

"Don't get cocky, boy," Byakuya yelled as he pointed his hand at the boy.

Ichigo noticed the increased speed of the petals. Ichigo couldn't dodged so he did the next best thing, he sliced every petal that encircled him.

Byakuya couldn't believe what the two had accomplished. Ichigo had deflected by slicing through all of his petals, while Shigeru burned her way through the petals.

Shigeru brought her leg over her head, purple lightning encasing both of her legs. She brought her leg down aiming the blade on her calf at the man's shoulder. His petals created a shield over his shoulder, pushing her back. She smirked as she landed on her hands balancing her legs off the ground.

"Tora no Mai: Raimei," she smirked up at the man.

She windmilled at great speeds, creating infinite shock waves of purple lightning. They sizzled through the cherry blossom blades, striking the man. Byakuya grunted as the electricity coursed through his body finding himself paralyzed from the shock.

Ichigo flashed behind Byakuya, "You said earlier that miracles only happen once…"

The raven-haired eyes widened.

"So what do you call this," he asked as he went to strike the man.

Blood dripped to the floor as Byakuya forced his body to react. He grabbed the blade of Zangetsu barehanded. He glared at the orange-haired teen.

"I see...you take all of the power of bankai and compress it into a small, condensed form. Then you use that power to perform hyper-speed. That is the power of your bankai," Byakuya remarked.

He tightened his grip on the black blade.

"Very well... this power yours…"

Shigeru distanced herself from the two.

"I shall eradicate it," Byakuya yelled with more emotion than he's shown since meeting the two teens.

He dragged his hand over the blade as he distanced himself from Ichigo. His blood dripping on the ground below.

"Watch carefully, Ichigo Kurosaki, this is it. The form that forgoes all defenses, and concentrates solely on the total annihilation of the enemy. This is Senbonzakura's true form," Byakuya glared at the teen.

Shigeru looked above as a dome of reiatsu slowly formed above them. She took a step forward.

"_Oh man, this is going to be awesome_," she cheered eternally.

Byakuya glanced over to where she was standing and raised a hand, taking advantage of her distracted state. He sent a blast of Senbonzakura's petal her way, her eyes widening as she was forced out of the perimeter of the forming dome. Shigeru tumbled to the ground.

"What the hell―"

"I will deal with you after I dispose of this nuisance," Byakuya spoke directly to the white-haired girl.

Under normal circumstances Byakuya wouldn't hesitate to attack both the teens within the Senkai, however, Shigeru was going to be tricky to deal with. Her flame and electric based attacks were a slight problem. Not to mention she didn't seem affected by attacks in general in her new form. He needed time to think of a way to deal with her.

Senkai Senbonzakura Kageyoshi cut Shigeru off as she ran forward. She banged her hand on the dome in frustration, swiping at it with her clawed hands and feet.

"I can't believe he just did that! So rude," she complained to herself as she distanced herself from the dome.

She opened her hand as it engulfed her in a mixture of flames and lightning. Shigeru clenched her fist, pulling it back before punching the ground. The earth quaked as a blast of her elemental reiatsu went crashing into the dome. She smacked her lips when she saw it didn't take any damage.

Shigeru hopped up and down as she whined in frustration, "Oh, come on! I just want to see the awesome infinity swords up close! Ichigo gets all the fun fights! It's not fair!"

She stopped having her tantrum when she heard the swords clashing from within the space. Shigeru hopped closer to the dome again. She took a deep breath as she widened her stance, clenching her fist.

"_Kemono no Gouon!_"

Shigeru released an deafening, ultrasonic roar that sounded like a combo or a tiger and sound of another giant beast. She directed the roar directly at the dome, the vibrations causing the dome to crack. She noticed and roared even louder, successfully shattering a portion of the dome.

She stepped into the dome huffing.

Byakuya had a blade impaling Ichigo's foot to the ground. His finger still pointed at a fresh wound on the orange-haired teens shoulder. The teen was covered in blood.

"_He already used Byakurai on him, time really moves faster in-universe_," Shigeru mused.

Byakuya coolly glanced over to the huffing girl.

"I don't like being ignored, Byakuya," she grinned maliciously as she slowly walked toward the two.

Byakuya coolly regarded the girl, "I see…"

Byakuya turned his attention back to the one in front of him as he pulled the blade from Ichigo's foot. Ichigo struggled to keep his balance.

"You've reached your limit, Ichigo Kurosaki," he declared as he looked down at the teen who was struggling with the pain from his wounds.

Shigeru stood by observing the two and smirked to herself.

"_Someone I've been wanting to see will be coming out soon…_"

She loved the Hollow that dwelled in Ichigo's mind, and honestly it was one of the main reasons she wanted to get into the dome. She wanted to see it at work. It gave her chills just thinking about it.

Ichigo glared up at the captain, his eyes widening as he realized he couldn't move.

"Did you think that my speed increased after Senkai," Byakuya asked the teen.

He went on to explain how Senkai just increases the attack power of his attacks, not the speed.

Shigeru got a little closer to the two fighting, not even upset that Byakuya was basically ignoring her again. She knew that the reason he was targeting Ichigo so much was because he blames the teen for Rukia's current dilemma. He had no real quarrel with her other than the fact that she was associated with the boy.

"_...Besides I'm over this fight anyway,_" she thought, feeling quite fickle at the moment.

Byakuya lifted his blade over his head as he glared down at the teen, "It's over, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Shigeru felt a sudden chill go down her spine, and her hair stood on end.

Ichigo caught the blade in his hand.

"Ichigo, you idiot. I told you...if you die it'll only cause problems for me," the orange-haired teen spoke in a distorted voice.

Shigeru twitched uncomfortably, "_Wow! I didn't expect the hollow's presence to put me on edge like this_."

"Who are you," Byakuya asked a little unnerved.

"Who am I," the hollow laughed.

He lifted his head. The white mask from before was forming on the left side of his face. Ichigo brown eyes were now an eerie yellow and black. A crazed grin stretched across his face.

"I have no name!"

His slashed Byakuya across his chest.

"_Way to go Hollow Ichigo! Oh, wait I actually shouldn't be rooting for him_," she snickered.

Byakuya quickly distanced himself away from the possessed teen as his blood splattered across the rock ground below. Ichigo's hollow smirked at the retreating captain laughing maniacally.

"You sure are worthless, Ichigo!" he laughed.

The hollow―Zangetsu―crushed the blade his snatched from Byakuya, it's petals fluttering away.

"He hasn't even realized that his bankai is crushing his body! Ichigo, your bones are creaking under the pressure! You're a disgrace! Watch carefully, and let me show you how to correctly use bankai," he yelled as he charged the other.

Byakuya glared at the boy as one of the many swords of his bankai dropped into his waiting hand. The hollow released a black Getsuga Tensho. Byakuya couldn't defend himself fast enough as the hollow flashed behind the man releasing yet another attack, before grabbing the man by his shoulder to prevent the man from avoiding the attacks. Byakuya's eyes widened in horror as he was hit point blank from both sides. Shigeru jumped out the way to avoid the backlash.

She avoided the flying debris as she whistled, "Yikes! I know that had to hurt!"

The hollow snapped in Shigeru's direction as he grinned madly. He flashed over to her, momentarily forgetting about the injured captain he was fighting. She leaned back slightly as the possessed boy leaned into her face.

"Oh, you're a being of instinct. A fight with you would be...exhilarating," he raised his sword in the air.

Shigeru's eyes widened, "Oh shit!"

She quickly flipped over the teen, running away.

"I like a good chase," the hollow called from behind her.

Shigeru whined comically, "Well, I don't!"

He flashed in front of her, releasing a Getsuga Tensho. Shigeru hopped over the attack, her arms lighting up with purple lightning. She flashed over to the teen, hopping on his back, locking her leg around his neck. Using her weight she swung herself around him, flipping the teen on his back.

Shigeru straddled him, hitting him with a flurry of electrified punches. He shrieked as the lightning coursed through his injured body. She narrowly dodged Zangetsu from stabbing her in the shoulder.

Shigeru back flipped off the possessed Ichigo and ran away again.

"_Why do the crazy ones always come after me_," she complained.

He yelled, "Come! Fight me!"

"I don't wanna," she cried out.

If it were anyone else she would seriously attack them, but she didn't want to hurt Ichigo, especially when his bankai and Byakuya's reiatsu were already harming his body.

"Speaking of Byakuya," she mumbled.

She surveyed the area for the captain, as her hollowfying companion was hot on her heels. Byakuya appeared beside her, his sword raised at the orange haired teen. Hollow Ichigo blocked the incoming blow. Shigeru grabbed Byakuya by his wrist and shunpo-ed away from their attacker.

His eyes widened in confusion as he glanced at the girl. She released his wrist as she scrutinized her companion. The white mask slowly spread over his face, it now completely extended down the left side of his face to the middle of his forehead.

"_Not good_," she frowned.

"...Why?"

She glanced over to the captain as his gray eyes bore into her multi-colored one.

"Why would you help me," he asked, searching her eyes for something.

Shigeru sighed, "Let's just say, I know you aren't as cold and bad as you're making yourself out to be."

He furrowed his brows.

"And Ichigo isn't exactly himself right now. If you know what I mean," she added as she glanced back to her attacker only to see he wasn't there.

Her eyes widened as she turned to Byakuya. Ichigo was behind him, preparing to stab him from behind. Shigeru quickly pulled Byakuya behind her as she shielded him from the hollows attack.

He stabbed her in her stomach. Shigeru grunted as her blood trickled down her leg. She kicked the boy away, he slid to a stop. She glanced over her shoulder to the shocked Byakuya as she pressed her hand to her fresh wound.

"_At least it's extremely shallow. He only managed to do this much because I'm holding back from hurting him,_" she thought as she glared at the hollow.

It snickered, "You're pretty durable! That should have run you though!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sturdy," she shrugged.

It leered at her as it licked it's lips, "You just keep getting more interesting... Shigeru."

She shivered uncomfortably. Ichigo was literally her little brother, and his hollow was hitting on her in his own twisted way.

"Oh my god! This is so awkward! Ichigo, snap out of it," she pleaded.

Byakuya huffed from his wounds as he glared at the teen, "That mask and this reiatsu...are you a hollow?"

"Ha! You don't need to know. Because soon you'll―"

He froze as his hand shot up to grip the mask, pulling at it. The hollow argued with Ichigo as he regained control over his body. He ripped the mask off of his face as his inner hollow wailed in anger.

Shigeru sighed completely exasperated, "_That took longer than necessary…_"

He huffed before grinning at the captain, "Sorry about that disturbance!"

Shigeru hopped over to his side away from the raven-haired captain.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to―"

She waved him off as she walked past him to sit on a large piece of rubble, "Yeah, yeah, yeah! It's literally a scratch! Continue your fight."

He smirked at the girl before facing Byakuya again, "Let's start from the beginning!"

After having a moment to make sense of the situation, Byakuya agreed, "So be it! I will disregard what just happened―"

"_Please_, disregard it," the girl called from the sidelines.

"Neither of us have the strength to keep this up any longer. Let's end this with the next blow," he suggested.

Shigeru placed her chin in her hands as Byakuya activated Senbonzakura: Shuukei Hakuteiken. Her eyes light up with excitement. It was beautiful. Ichigo wrapped a Getsuga Tensho around his blade waiting to be released. The two charged each other for one final strike. She squinted her eyes as the cliff lit up in clashing black and white reiatsu.

The light died down.

Ichigo and Byakuya were on the opposite side of their initial spots. Ichigo's shoulder erupted in blood. He stabbed Tensa Zangetsu into the ground to steady himself as he fell.

"_The amount of blood this boy loses during battle can't be healthy or humanly possible for that matter..._," Shigeru joked as she stood from her spot.

She was going to help steady Ichigo, but stopped when he gave her this look. His brown eyes filled with this undying spark. She understood. He wanted to do this himself. Nodding her head deciding to stand by.

Byakuya's chest erupted in blood. His knees buckled, but he remained on his feet nonetheless. He gazed down at his hand as petal fluttered away in the breeze. Byakuya closed his hand.

"You wanted to know the reason I supported Rukia's execution…," he began.

Shigeru crossed her arms as Byakuya explained that one must follow rules without letting their emotions cloud their judgement on what needs to be done for the greater good. Sometimes you simply must follow rules in order to set a good example for the rest.

She sighed deeply, looking up to the sky, "_I get his point, but always following the rules is impossible…" _

"I...still don't get it," Ichigo retorted as he stared at the man.

Shigeru slapped a hand to her forehead as she rolled her eyes, "_Oh course he doesn't!_"

"If..if I were you I would definitely fight the rules," he huffed.

Byakuya slowly walked away, his blood trailing behind him. Shigeru looked to the man with sympathy.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, your liberalness shattered my blade...therefore, I won't pursue Rukia. The victor of this battle is you...," he announced to the boy.

He glanced over to Shigeru, who wasn't expecting him to pay her any real attention. She rubbed her arm giving him a nervously grin.

A smile ghosted his lips, "Shigeru Kuroi...you are truly a strange woman."

Shigeru blinked at the remark, but grinned widely, "I take that as a compliment, Byakuya."

"Hmm, strange indeed," he mused as he closed his eyes.

He vanished from Sokyoku Hill.

Ichigo blinked, "I...won…?"

He stood up straight and reaffirmed himself.

"I won!," he yelled at the top of his lungs.

He wavered from what Shigeru could only imagine being a combination of blood loss, lightheartedness, and his unmatched cockiness. She flashed forward, slinging his arm around her shoulder.

Shigeru held the boy upright as he grinned down to her goofily, "I got ya, Strawberry!"

"You know I love you, right," he chuckled, tightening his grip on her shoulder.

Shigeru tilted her head up snobbishly, "As you should!"

"I think Byakuya likes you," he grinned down to the girl.

She scoffed and jostled the teen. Ichigo hissed in pain.

"Gently please!"

"Then stop making stupid jokes!"

"Gosh, so serious! He probably likes your little get up! I'm sure any man would," he cackled.

Shigeru dropped Ichigo to the ground, and walked away with an angry blush on her cheeks.

"I was joking," he yelled from his stop on the ground.

"Ichigo, are you alright," a voice called from the distance.

They both looked up to see Orihime running toward them. When she got close enough she did a double take at Shigeru's appearance.

"Shigeru?!"

She smirked down at her friend as she placed her hands on her hips.

"The one and only!"

Orihime bounced around her taking in her new look as she rambled, "You're gorgeous! I mean, you're always gorgeous but this...this is just amazing!"

Shigeru chuckled before hugging the teen.

"I'm glad you're okay, Orihime," she smiled warmly.

Orihime grinned and nodded, "Of course!"

The rest of the group plus Maki-Maki joined them. Uryuu and Chad blushed as they saw Shigeru, and she told them to grow up as she rolled her eyes. Ganju with hearts in his eyes proposed to Shigeru then and there. She punched in the head while declining. Orihime dropped to her knees in front of Ichigo, apologizing for not being able to help him the entire time they were in the Seireitei. Shigeru smiled as she looked up to the clear blue sky.

"Mission complete," she jumped up and down.

As they gathered Ichigo up to leave the cliff, Shigeru stayed standing in place. She glared at the ground deep in thought.

"_Now...there's only one more event left for today... Should I stay here to try and help Renji and Rukia when they arrive or follow the plot for now_," she frowned furrowing her brow.

"Shigeru?"

"_Things have deviated slightly from the original plot. My fight with Kenpachi is proof of that, and even this fight with Byakuya. If I hadn't had shielded him from Hollow Ichigo he really would have died back there_," her brows furrowed as she placed her hand on her still bleeding wound.

"Shigeru…"

"_Can I really slow down Aizen along with Gin and Tosen_," she bit her lip.

"Shigeru," Ichigo yelled directly into her ear, snapping her from her thoughts.

She flinched, looking up to see Ichigo leaning his weight onto Ganju. He gazed into her eyes worriedly.

"What's wrong? Let's get going," he smiled at her, "Okay?"

Shigeru bit her lip, conflicted. She sighed and nodded her head.

"Okay…"

* * *

Regardless if she stayed on Sokyoku Hill or not, if she stuck with Ichigo she'll be bound to confront the traitor soon enough.

"Oh, damn this! Where's my flying cloak when I need it," Shigeru complained as they descended the stairs to Sokyoku Hill.

Ichigo frowned at the girl, "Then shunpo down them then! You're good at that!"

"No, that'll just be abusing my power. I'm great, not lazy," Shigeru groaned.

Ichigo scoffed, "Could have fooled me. Why're you still in bankai?"

"I could ask you the same," she shrugged.

As they reached the bottom of the never ending stairs something clicked in her mind.

"Tenkeikuura," she heard Isane's voice announce.

Shigeru's eyes widened, "_Oh shit! So soon! Grrr, I could have just stayed up there then!_"

"Captain, lieutenants of the Gotei 13,... and Ryoka. This Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu of Squad 4 speaking. Can everyone hear me? An emergency situation has occurred. This emergency transmission is under the authority of Captain Unohana of Squad 4. Please listen carefully. Everything you're about to hear is shocking but true…"

Ichigo and the gang looked slightly confused about the information they were given, seeing as they have no clue who these people are or the politics within the Soul Society.

"This seems like their problem, right? Why would they tell us," Ichigo wondered.

Uryuu spoke up, "She told us because she thought we ought to know…"

"Huh?"

Shigeru jumped in, "Central 46 is basically Congress, Aizen murdered them, impersonated them, and planned out all this shit including the execution. He wants something…"

They seemed to get what she was implying as their eyes widened in realization.

"This Aizen fellow wants to kill Rukia," Uryuu clarified.

Ichigo whipped his head toward the top of the cliff. He turned back to Shigeru.

"We've got to get back up there," he blurted desperately.

Shigeru nodded.

"Let's go!"

* * *

_On top of Sokyoku Hill_

Renji was in the middle of fighting Aizen. He swung his Zabimaru as he hugged Rukia close to his chest, attacking the traitor.

Aizen caught the whip-like sword with his bare hand, shocking the red haired lieutenant.

"Among the three, you were the most difficult one to handle, Renji…," Aizen smiled as he destroyed Zabimaru.

The sword's pieces scattered fell to the ground, but that wasn't the only thing that Aizen did with that strike. Renji's arm was all but ripped to shreds. As he fell to his knees Aizen mocked him.

"I will say it one last time. Put Rukia down and step aside," he ordered.

Rukia pleaded with the man, "Please, Captain Aizen stop―"

"I refuse!"

Her eyes widened as she looked into her childhood friend's face, "Renji!"

"I told you to be quiet, Rukia..," he grunted.

Renji smirked at the ex-captain, "I won't do it. I'll never let her go, you bastard!"

Aizen's eyes darkened as he smiled, "I see."

He went to strike the Renji. Ichigo intercepted the man's strike, Shigeru behind him crouching protectively in front of her two friends glaring at their attacker. Gin and Tosen perked up at their arrival.

Aizen looked unamused by the two.

"We've come to help, Renji," Ichigo proclaimed.

Aizen smirked at the newcomers.

Shigeru didn't take her eyes off of the tall brown-haired, bespectacled man as Renji and Ichigo bantered. Her tail twitched aggressively as she watched for the slight movement from the man.

She snapped her fingers at the other, "Now's not the time for this!"

"Sorry, I was thinking about what to do and didn't see the two coming," Gin mused.

Shigeru resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the sound of Gin's voice, still holding a grudge from their first encounter days ago.

"Ah, that's okay…"

She focused on Aizen as he smiled at the group. His cheerful smile did not reflect in his cold eyes.

"The difference between one speck of dust or two isn't something you can see with your eyes," he remarked coolly.

Ichigo, Renji, and Shigeru's eyes narrowed at the man.

"Pompous son-of-a-bitch," she mumbled.

His eyes flickered to her, but she didn't falter.

"So he's Aizen," Ichigo asked.

"Yeah."

"Renji, do you have enough energy to run," Ichigo asked his new companion.

Renji nodded, "I do, but I'm not running."

"What, but―"

Renji cut him off, "I have a plan…"

As he quickly explained his plan to Ichigo, Shigeru quickly came with one of her own.

"_Their plan isn't going to work. We need to stall for time! At least until the other captains get here! If we can last that long,"_ she fumed.

Renji placed Rukia on the ground before placing his hand on the blade of Zabimaru. Shigeru stood between the two men attempting to grab their attention.

"Listen, I don't think―," she started but it was too late.

Renji slammed the end of Zabimaru into the ground.

"Higa Zekkou!"

Shigeru frowned, "_Guess I'll improvise!_"

The scattered pieces of Zabimaru floated into the glowing. They surrounded Aizen as they attacked, Ichigo ran toward the man with Shigeru not that far behind him. Shigeru didn't want to see Ichigo damn near split in half. Before Ichigo could strike Aizen, Shigeru lassoed her white chain around him and pulled him into her arms.

"Shigeru! What the hell are you doing," he struggled to get out of the girl's grip.

She jumped away from the clouded area making her way back to Renji, keeping her eyes on the clouded area that Aizen stood.

"Saving you! This isn't going to work―"

"What an intriguing form, Ryoka."

Shigeru's eyes widened as a voice spoke from behind her. Before she could react a white, shearing pain exploded throughout her back. Shigeru released Ichigo as she let out deafening shriek.

Aizen had managed to slice through her armor.

"Shigeru," Ichigo bellowed.

Her blood burst from the angry wound running diagonally from her right shoulder down to her left hip. She bit her lip to stop herself from expressing anymore pain as she fought back her tears. Shigeru's knees buckled as she willed herself to remain standing, but fell despite her best efforts. Ichigo crouched over her panicking. She turned her head to glare at her attacker.

"Impressive. That should have nearly split you in two," Aizen commented as he observed her armored form.

Shigeru bared her fangs as she growled, "You..._bastard_!"

"_Interesting indeed. Her resilience seems to stem from her condensed reiatsu. The wound is deep, but this form on hers prevented too much damage_," he hummed to himself.

Aizen turned his back to the two leisurely walking toward Renji and Rukia. Ichigo, blinded by rage due to Shigeru's injuries, charged the captain.

"Ichigo, no―," she yelled.

Aizen turned around blocking his blade with his index finger. He bent his finger to hold the sword in place as he sliced through Ichigo's body.

"Oh my! I meant to completely cut everything from the waist down, but my swing was too shallow it seems," Aizen smiled.

Shigeru's eyes widened as she tried to stand, but whenever she moved it felt like she was being torn apart. She grit her teeth, and willed her body to move anyway. Shigeru managed to get on one knee, sweating from the pain. She shunpo-ed over to Ichigo as he fell, covering his body with her own protectively. She glared at the man baring her sharp canines as growled at the man, tail twitching dangerously like a cornered animal protecting its young. Adrenaline was making her wounds feel numb, but her sudden movements only made them worse.

Aizen smirked at the girl as she trembled, "Amazing. You can still move. Well you know what they say about injured animals and all…"

Shigeru's multi-colored eyes became feral as she growled at the man, seeming more like an animal as time went on.

Aizen flashed over to Renji slicing through his shoulder. The man collapsed to the ground as Aizen continued toward Rukia. She was frozen in place as he looked at her fallen comrades. He grabbed her by her collar.

"Now, get up. Rukia Kuchiki," he grinned as he lifted the small woman off of the ground by the red collar around her neck.

Shigeru couldn't hear anything other than her own heartbeat as she watched the man dragged Rukia away from them. She felt Ichigo shift under her. She looked down to see him struggling to lift his head off the ground. He glared at the man a few feet ahead of them. Shigeru saw the man's lip moving but she couldn't hear anything. She was just so angry!

"_Protect...must protect...protect_," was the only thing going through her mind.

Aizen went into explaining his convoluted scheme, the Hogyoku, and before the gigantic Komamura appeared.

"Aizen!"

His corporeal shikai aimed to strike the traitor. Aizen stopped his blade with ease. As the one-side battle commenced Shigeru huffed.

"Shi-Shigeru, it's okay...you can get off of me," Ichigo panted.

She rolled off the boy slowly as Aizen trapped Komamura in Kuroshitsuji. Ichigo's eyes widened at the display of power. Shigeru was coming down from whatever adrenaline was running through her. She tried to focus on her breathing to ease the pain, but it was difficult. Aizen continued to explain himself to Rukia.

"_Ugh, here he goes with his long ass monologues. I don't wanna listen to this shit. Get to the point,_" she groaned as she rolled to her side.

She looked on as he pulled a tube from his robes. He clicked the small tube and several spikes circled around the two. His arm seemed to petrify, before he stabbed his arm through Rukia's chest, impaling right through her small body. Aizen extracted the Hogyoku from her body, letting Rukia drop to the ground. He looked down at the small glowing gem.

"Hm, it's smaller than I imagined," he noted.

Shigeru's eyes sparkled as she gazed upon the sparking gem.

"It's so pretty," she whispered, but she grit her teeth when Aizen lifted Rukia in the air by her collar.

He grinned, "Kill her, Gin."

"Don't," she yelled at the top of her lungs struggling to get up, but slipping back to the ground.

Gin released Shinso.

She sighed with relief when Byakuya appeared, catching the blade in his hand as he shielded his little sister. The blade stabbing him instead of her.

Byakuya collapsed to his knees as Gin retracted the extending zanpakuto. Rukia caught the man in her arms.

"Brother! Why would you save me," she pleaded with the bleeding out captain.

Aizen approached the two. Rukia cradled Byakuya's head as she glared at the man as he stalked up to the two.

Yoruichi and Sui-Feng _finally_ appeared. The darker woman forced his sword into its sheath, and Sui-Feng's Suzumibachi pressed to his neck.

"Don't move. If you move even one muscle…," Yoruichi demanded.

Sui-Feng glared, "You'll lose your head!"

Aizen scoffed, "Never well."

Shigeru blinked as three gigantic men appeared on the scene below the cliff.

"_Who the hell are they_," she frowned, zeroing her vision to them.

They were the other guardians for the gates that surrounded the Seireitei. Aizen had placed them under the hypnosis of Kyoka Suigetsu. Before they could get any closer Jidanbo appeared with Kukaku riding on his shoulder. She and the giant quickly dispatched the other guardians.

Gin was as amused as ever, "Oh my whatever shall we do?"

As he swapped away incoming debris Rangiku appeared behind her, "Don't move."

The other captain and lieutenants finally appeared on the hill. Shigeru let out an audible sigh.

"About goddamn time people," she managed to find the strength to complain, but she was feeling the effects of her rapid blood loss.

Yoruichi noted, "It's over, Aizen…"

The man chuckled.

"What's so funny," she glared at the man.

Aizen grinned, "It's time."

Yoruichi sensed something from above, "Sui-Feng, get out of the way!"

The two ninja women jumped out of the way as Aizen was surrounded by a yellow barrier. Everyone looked up to the skies and a group of Menos Grande opened a Garganta. The beams appeared around Gin and Tosen as well, protecting them from the outside interference of the shinigami that surrounded them. They all floated into the sky toward the opening on the dimensional rift.

Aizen looked down as Ukitake approached .

"What are you trying to do," the white-haired captain glared.

"To go higher," he declared.

Shigeru was finding it harder to keep her eyes open, but she knew she couldn't lose consciousness in her condition. Everyone's voices were going in and out as she tried to focus on what was happening around her. She perked up when she noticed Aizen remove his black framed glasses, destroying them. He swept his chocolate brown hair back as he glared down to the shinigami below.

"_Oh no, he's hotter in person, but evil. So... _so _evil_," Shigeru groaned, annoyed by her attraction to the villain.

Aizen glanced at the people below, "Goodbye, shinigami…"

He glanced over to Ichigo and Shigeru.

"And goodbye to you young Ryoka," he smirked, "For humans, you really are an interesting pair."

He made eye contact with Ichigo, before shifting his gaze to the brunette next to him. She grinned before shakily flipping him the bird, with what little strength she had left. His grin widened at his antics.

"Interesting indeed," he chuckled as he turned his back on the shinigami.

The Garganta closed behind him.

Shigeru huffed, "What are fucking day!"

"I'm still not completely sure about what the hell just happened," Ichigo groaned in pain.

Shigeru laid her head down on her arm as she looked at the teen, "Ichigo, I hate you so much…"

"What'd I do," he huffed.

Shigeru called out, "Being associated with you gets me cut the hell up! Yoruichi!"

The woman along with a couple of captains turned to her.

"_Please_, get me a strong drink," Shigeru cried animated tears.

The woman smiled as she shook her head at the girl, "I'll get right on that for you, Shigeru."

The medics of Squad 4 scrambled about to heal the fallen shinigami and captains around them. Orihime was working hard to heal her and Ichigo. She was healing faster than Ichigo, and was nearly done. They both laid on their stomachs as Orihime did her work.

"Orihime…," she called out weakly.

The other girl perked up, "Yes?"

"Leave the scar when you're done healing me," the brown haired shinigami requested.

Orihime's eyes widened, "But Shigeru...this will leave such an ugly scar...Are you sure?"

Shigeru nodded her head slowly.

"_I need something to remind me to train harder...I'll never let myself get hurt like this again,_" she frowned.

Ichigo glanced at her, his face unreadable, but he was feeling some guilt over the newly acquired scar that Shigeru would be sporting. She didn't deserve such battle scars. Almost like she could sense Ichigo thoughts.

"Stop it, Ichigo. Scars are trophies to warriors. I wear them with pride," she yawned slapping a hand on his face.

He smiled and nodded his head. Shigeru was really so sleepy. Her half-lidded eyes became even harder to keep open. Orihime's Soten Kisshun was just so warm and comfortable. By the time Orihime was finished, Shigeru had already fallen asleep. Her bankai finally deactivated, she returned to the white kimono and black thigh high socks. Her brown hair fell over her shoulder as she snoozed. She gripped the blades on Hiryu Raitora gently. Soten Kisshun shrank to focus solely on Ichigo.

"Should we try to wake her," Uryuu whispered to Chad.

Ichigo mumbled, "I wouldn't if I were you...she wakes up swinging."

They paled at the idea of Shigeru pummeling them from awaking her. A large shadow loomed over the group. They all flinched when they looked up to see Kenpachi.

"K-K-Kenpachi! What're you doing here," Ichigo stammered suddenly feeling a sudden cause of PTSD.

The giant captain glanced over to the sleeping Shigeru. He crouched down and lifted her in his arm, cradling her to his chest. Her head dangling slightly over his arm as he stood to his full height.

They all blinked speechless due to the man's uncharacteristically gentle actions. Yachiru popped up over his shoulder.

"We'll take Shi-Shi to rest at Squad 11's barracks. That way we can play when she wakes up," the small girl beamed.

Ganju protested, "But―"

"That won't be a problem? Will it," Kenpachi glared down at the group.

They paled and shook their heads as they felt the man's blood lust leaking from him.

Yachiru smiled, "Make sure to visit the barracks to play too, okay?"

The group nodded their heads slowly.

Kenpachi walked off with their unconscious menace.

"What just happened," Ganju asked.

Ichigo ran a hand down his face, "Shigeru's a magnet for dangerous maniacs…"

They all glanced at each other before nodding in agreement.

**Author's Note: Rukia's rescue has come to an end, Aizen is now on the prowl, and our heroes get a chance to rest. Now for some rough translation of Shigeru's Bankai and attacks.**

**-Hiryu to Raitora: Saiai no Odori Musume- Fire Dragon and Lightning Tiger: Beloved Dancing Daughter**

**-Ryu no Mai: Ikari- Dance of the Dragon: Fury**

**-Tora no Mai: Raimei- Dance of the Tiger: Thunderclap**

**-Kemono no Gouon- Beast's Roar**

**Quick warning, after the next chapter I will go on a quick hiatus. Just for a couple of days, not a longtime thing! Don't worry! I know seeing the word "hiatus" makes you guys panic a little haha. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: This is officially the last chapter for Shigeru and her time in the Soul Society. I see that there are some mixed reviews about the story...which is completely okay (lmao) it's a given with anything! Everyone has a right to their own opinion. I can understand the frustrations that people are expressing with the development of the story, **_**but**_** let me tell you it's all for a reason. Just have patience guys, please (haha) it's just moving slowly. There's a method to my madness. Plus, I'm considering rewriting the whole story **_**only**_** when it's **_**complete**_** because there's always room for improvement. I plan to finish this even if it's not well liked because at the end of the day I'm writing for fun. I just want to see how this version that I've outlined out works out for me first because it's a personal goal to at least complete a fic this year. Now that that's out the way, let's pick up where we let off and see what she's been doing while recovering. Who has she traumatized this time, and who's traumatized her? Let's see! Enjoy as usual!**

Chapter 12: I'm Still Getting My Drink, Right?

Shigeru slept like the dead that night and most of the next day.

While she was sleeping she had several visitors. Kenpachi would frequently pop in the room to see if she had awakened, itching for a rematch. However, much to his disappointment, she would still be snoozing away without a care in the world. As a result, Kenpachi would go searching for Ichigo to torture, but the poor boy was still recovering himself.

Yachiru would stay behind trying to rouse the girl from her sleep. The small child sat on the edge of the bed. Shigeru didn't stir as the bed shifted. Yachiru poked the slumbering girl in her cheek.

"Wake up, Shi-Shi! You've slept all day! I want to play," Yachiru ordered.

Shigeru just continued to sleep, drooling a little. Yachiru pouted angrily before an idea popped into her head. She pulled out a black marker from her robes to draw on Shigeru's face, snickering the whole time.

Yachiru left the room to find Kenpachi. While Shigeru now sported a raccoon eye, a cat face on her cheek, tear drops under her eyes, whiskers, and other funny things.

Rukia and Orihime came to visit her a little after that, shocked to see the scribbles on her face. Orihime, in a panic, quickly wiped the markings off of the sleeping girl's face.

"I'm guessing Lieutenant Kusajishi wanted to spend time with Shigeru," Rukia chuckled as she pulled a stool closer to the bed.

Orihime chuckled as she finished wiping Shigeru's face, "Yeah, Yachiru really likes her for some reason. Part of the reason she helped us was because she wanted to meet Shigeru again."

Rukia glanced at the snoozing girl on the bed as she mumbled in her sleep, "If they become friends….I fear for the Seireitei."

Orihime sat down next to Rukia nodding in agreement. The two conversed as they waited for Shigeru to possibly wake up. They decided to play in her hair in the meantime, creating several braids.

"It looks so cute," Orihime giggled, pinning a couple into a crown.

Shigeru began to stir. She slowly opened her eyes as she sat up from the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"How long have I been out…," she grumbled as she noticed Orihime and Rukia.

Rukia smiled as she patted the girl on the head, "For like a day! It's almost night time!"

Shigeru nodded as she laid her head back down on her pillow. Rukia and Orihime dragged her out the bed.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Shigeru whined, "I'm still sleepy!"

Rukia and Orihime forced her in front of the nearest bathroom to get all of the dirt and grime from yesterday's events off her body. Rukia provided her with a simple black yukata to wear once she was clean.

"It's almost dinner time here in squad 11. I'll save you a spot by us," Orihime announced cheerfully.

The brunette nodded her head sleepily, yawning all the while.

Orihime glanced over to Rukia, "Will you be eating with us today?"

"No, I'll be checking on her brother's condition soon. Maybe another time," Rukia apologized.

Shigeru entered the bathroom and slowly undressed herself, dropping the grimy kimono and bodysuit to the bathroom floor. She glanced over to her reflection, placing a hand on her right hip.

"_Such a messy body..._," she mused to herself as she took in all the scars scattered across her body.

The scars from her first encounter with Byakuya and Renji clear as day on her chest and stomach. A ragged line reaching up her left arm as well as the scar on her midsection from Kenpachi, were almost nonexistent thanks to spring in the underground training facility at Sokyoku Hill. However, you could still see traces of the scar if you looked closely. Shigeru turned to get a look at the large scar of her back, pulling her braided hair over her left shoulder. The skin where the wound was now a couple shades darker than the rest of her back, the scar wrapping slightly over her left hip and right shoulder.

She sighed heavily before washing up.

After an hour of scrubbing her body down and washing her hair, Shigeru finally emerged from the bathroom dressed in the black yukata provided to her, pulling her damp hair into a bun, missing a few curls here and there. She wandered around the halls in search of where everyone was probably eating by now.

"And I'm lost," she sighed.

She turned as she heard a lot of commotion coming from one of the rooms, she noticed members entering and exiting, laughing boisterously.

"Excuse me! Is this where everyone is eating," she asked as she stepped up to the entrance.

The members of squad 11 perked up then instantly paled when they saw her face.

One of the men sputtered, "What?"

"Uh, is this where everyone's eating," she asked again furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

They nodded vigorously before opening the door for her and moving clear out of the way.

She entered the mess hall. It was chaos! Men were laid out drunk on the ground, loud talking, some arguments going on here and there, and men eating sloppily. She smiled, expecting nothing less from the brutish squad.

As she walked around looking for Orihime and the gang, some men shivered in fear or paled swiftly moving out of her way.

"_Okay… I get the distinct feeling that some of these men were caught up in my rampage a few days ago,_" she laughed, loving the fear she induced in the men.

"Shigeru!"

She turned to see Orihime beaming as she waved her over. Ichigo, Uryuu, and Chad were already eating and chatting away. Shigeru sat between Orihime and Ichigo. Her mouth salivating from the smell of the food that sat before her.

"I made sure to get you an extra helping," Orihime smiled as she nibbled on her food.

Shigeru hugged the girl beside her, "You're an angel!"

She wasted no time digging in as Orihime explained that Head Captain Yamamoto was allowing them to stay a week to rest up as they prepared a Senkaimon for them to return home. She smiled completely content; she glanced around the mess hall again looking for a certain captain and cohorts. They were on the end of the large eating area. Kenpachi looked bored as he lounged about. Yachiru was playing with her food, as Ikkaku complained for her to actually eat. Yumichika ate his meal calmly. Shigeru turned back to her meal.

"What's it like when you transform into your bankai form," Orihime asked with sparkles in her eyes.

Shigeru beamed, "Oh my god! I've been waiting for someone to ask! You know in magical girl anime when they transform, right?"

"Yes!"

"It feels exactly like that! It's so awesome," Shigeru hopped up and down in her spot excitedly.

Orihime's eyes widened with wonder, "That sounds so fun! I wish I could do that!"

"But what if you can, Orihime! What if you just need to unlock that power up," Shigeru's eyes sparkled as she grasped her friends hands.

They giggled as they imagined the great adventures that could have as magical girls.

"So what? You going to go on magical girl adventures to save the town," Ichigo snickered as he sipped his tea.

Shigeru smirked as she continued to eat, "You're just jealous that you can't fight alongside us as a magical boy!"

He spit out his tea in horror as goosebumps covered his skin.

"Don't be gross," he yelled in her ear.

Chad and Uryuu shuttered at the thought of Ichigo running around Karakura dressed like a magical girl as he killed hollows.

"Shigeru! Have a drink with us," Ikkaku appeared draping his arm over the girl's shoulder.

Shigeru could tell the man was already a little tipsy himself.

"Hell yeah," she grinned, happy she was finally getting her much needed drink.

Ikkaku laughed, "Great! Ichigo was being such a stick in the mud! He wouldn't join in!"

Shigeru was so excited to finally be getting some alcohol. She wasn't a heavy drinker per se, but she did enjoy the occasional drink every so often. The last time she even had a good drink was the night before she ended up in the _Bleach-verse_. After recent events and injuries she desperately needed one or two or three...

As she was getting up Ichigo caught her by the wrist.

"What," she whined irritably as she frowned at him.

Ichigo frowned, "We can't drink. We're not of age!"

Shigeru laughed loudly.

"Oh, my dear sweet strawberry! I'm in a gray area," she wriggled a finger knowingly.

She grinned down at the orange haired teen.

"Mentally I'm_ well_ over the legal drinking age. Physically I may be your age, but I plan on prepping this new liver for my future endeavors, so I'm off to indulge. See ya," she laughed as she got out of his grip.

Ikkaku and her left the slightly confused group as they turned to Ichigo for answers.

Uryuu turned to Ichigo, "What did she mean by being mentally older than us?"

"Well…," Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck.

Ikkaku cheered as he all but dragged her over to where Yumichika and Kenpachi were lounging.

"Captain, look who's joining us for drinks," the bald warrior announced.

Shigeru grinned as she took a seat between the seated officers, "Yo!"

Kenpachi grinned at the brunette, "Look who's finally awake!"

"Shi-shi," Yachiru bounced into Shigeru's lap.

Shigeru patted the girl on her head, "How's it going, cutie?"

Yachiru beamed up the teen and bounced around the girl. Shigeru chuckled as Yachiru talked about taking Shigeru around to see her hiding spots and toys. Kenpachi watched the two as they interacted, smirking as Shigeru forced Yachiru to eat the rest of her food before she got her dessert. Ikkaku poured Shigeru a drink and she gladly chugged it down.

"Whew! I needed that," she laughed.

Ikkaku laughed as he poured her another, "Drink as much as you want!"

Yumichika shook his head at the two's antics as they started throwing back drinks. Shigeru and Ikkaku conversed about a lot of things like fighting, favorite foods, Shigeru's life as a human.

"Let's arm wrestle," Ikkaku demanded drunkenly.

Shigeru's cheeks were flushed from the sake she'd been throwing back. Yumichika refilled her cup.

She grinned sloppily, "You're on!"

They both laid down on their stomachs, lifting their right hands. The two clasped each other's hand.

Yumichika sighed, "Go!"

The two were pretty evenly matched, as they struggled to one up the other. Shigeru shifted to her side as she forced the man's hand further down. Ikkaku used all his strength to fight back, forcing Shigeru's hand inches from the tatami mat. Shigeru gritted her teeth before she slammed the man's hand to the mat. Ikkaku and Yumichika's eyes widened.

Shigeru hopped up and did a little victory dance, "I win! I win!"

"Not bad! You're pretty strong. I'd like to spar with you while you're here," Ikkaku laughed as he got off the floor.

Shigeru took a swig of her drink and nodded at the man. She grinned goofily, "Who's my next victim?!"

The men of squad 11 were lining up to arm wrestle the drunken woman. She laughed madly as she sent men flying around the room. Ichigo finally had enough of Shigeru's drunken behavior.

"Alright! I think that's _enough_," he proclaimed as he marched over to her.

Shigeru grinned at the orange haired teen, slightly disheveled. Her bun slipped to the back of her neck and her yukata was slipping from her shoulder. She waved enthusiastically at him as if it were the first time seeing him in days.

"Ichigo! Why so angry," she asked drunkenly.

He scowled at her, "_Oh, come on…_"

Shigeru stood up and poked him between his eyebrows.

"Always making such a face! Like this, see!"

She mimicked Ichigo's signature scowl. He rolled his eyes as she broke into giggles.

Ichigo ran a hand down his face, "I think you've had enough for tonight. Let's get you to bed, okay?"

Shigeru shook her head frivolously, crossing her arms in childish defiance.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Shigeru…," he warned, scowl deepening.

Shigeru grinned at him and dropped to her side lifting up her right hand, "If you beat me I'll gladly go to bed, but if I win you leave me alone! 'Kay?"

He rolled his eyes and dropped to the ground, "_She's had a lot to drink, so she shouldn't be a problem anymore…" _

Shigeru laughed, "Yayyy!"

As soon as Ichigo grasped her hand Shigeru demolished him.

"Gyah!"

"Heh," she cheesed at the stunned Ichigo.

He blinked at her, "_Why the hell is she so strong?!_"

The other members of squad 11 cheered the girl on. Ikkaku wrapped an arm around her shoulder as he took a swing from the bottle in his hand.

"Who else wants a go at the champ," she slurred, grinning widely.

A shadow loomed over her and Ikkaku. She blinked up to see the grinning Kenpachi.

Kenpachi eyed Shigeru, "I think I will, Shigeru."

Shigeru was frozen for a second before she nodded happily. The two settled on the floor and grasped each other's hands. Men were cheering; some were rooting for Shigeru and the other's were rooting for their captain.

"Start!"

Shigeru didn't expect Kenpachi to hold back, but in that split second she almost lost. She struggled to keep the back of her hand from touching the mats below. Shigeru frowned, sweat dripping down her face as she struggled to force the hulking man's hand back. She grinned when it seemed like she was getting the upper hand, pushing Kenpachi's hand closer to the mat. However, it was over in a moment. Kenpachi slammed Shigeru's hand to the floor. Everyone in the room froze, before cheering for the captain.

Yumichika patted Shigeru on the back, "You were doing great, hun! But our captain has never lost in one of these competitions!"

Shigeru just stared at her hand.

"Shigeru," Ikkaku blinked at the unresponsive girl.

She frowned as tears welled up in her eyes. Everyone flinched at the sight of her tears.

"I-I lost," she cried, tears running down her face.

Ichigo sputtered, "Why...What? Wait a min―"

Shigeru let out a sob.

In the time that he has come to know Shigeru, he has never seen her cry or even show even a semblance of sadness about anything for that matter. He honestly didn't know what to do with the drunken woman right now. She hopped off the ground and proceeded to pound the bell wearing captain on his chest with her fist.

"You're mean! You cheated," she cried as she pounded the man weakly.

Kenpachi just blinked not knowing what to do with the smaller woman. He awkwardly patted her on the head. She slowly ran out of steam as she sniffled, leaning into the man abdomen. Shigeru finally succumbed to the sake and other drinks, falling asleep on her feet.

Yachiru poked the girl in her leg blinking, "Kenny, Shi-Shi's sleeping again."

Ikkaku and Yumichika held back their laughter as did most of the men present. Shigeru gained two things that night: The fear and respect of the entire squad 11 and the title of "The Sleepy Goddess of Squad 11."

* * *

_The next day_

Shigeru was slightly hungover and embarrassed by her behavior the night before. She's been avoiding Kenpachi like the plague after she awkwardly apologized to him for the waterworks. She hated crying in front of people in general, but crying while drunk over an arm wrestling contest...was just too much.

Ichigo and her decided to go for a little walk around the Seireitei to get some much needed fresh air. She was still wearing the black yukata she was given, since she found it to be pretty comfortable. Her hair free blowing in the wind, as she wished she had some sunglasses to block the sun that was beaming directly in her face. She just used her hand as a makeshift visor for the time being. Ichigo grinned at the girl's grumpy condition.

"So what is Hiryu Raitora like," Ichigo asked, trying to ease the tension.

Shigeru threw her arms in the air, "They're so bipolar!"

"Really," he laughed at the girl beside him.

Shigeru frowned as she ranted, "One minutes they're making fun of me. Then they're trying to _kill_ me. And then they start acting like doting parents, snuggling with me and shit! I just can't keep up! I get emotional whiplash every time I talk to them!"

"Hm, they sound just like you," Ichigo mused as they continued to walk the streets of the Seireitei.

She turned on the boy, hair slapping him in the face, "What? How is that anything like me?!"

Ichigo rubbed his face, "Your mood switches up so fast I never know how to approach you most days."

"I'm not _that_ bad! Am I," she asked meekly, crossing her arms.

Ichigo grinned and patted the girl on the head, "You are though!"

"Oh, whatever," she scoffed, slapping his hand from her head.

Ichigo laughed, "Don't be like that!"

She cringed at the loudness of his voice.

"_Ugh...no drinking for a couple days...but I regret nothing haha…_"

* * *

_Another Day_

"Shi-Shi, play with me," Yachiru demanded, hopping on the girls back.

Shigeru laughed at the hyperactive child glued to her back. Whenever Kenpachi was napping Yachiru would search for Shigeru to entertain her until he woke up. She didn't mind playing with the small girl because she reminded her of her little cousins back in her original universe. It was actually pretty fun running around the Seireitei with her. Just yesterday Yachiru took her to all her secret snack spots scattered about the place where she hid mountains of candy and other treats.

"What do you have in mind today," she asked her pink haired companion.

Yachiru brought a finger up to her lip as she thought long and hard. She perked up when she came to a good idea.

"I'll show you my secret hideout for the S.W.A.," the girl grinned.

Shigeru furrowed her brows, "_S.W.A….Oh! The Shinigami Women's Association!_"

She excitedly placed Yachiru back to the ground, eyes sparkling.

"Lead the way," she cheered happily.

Shigeru was led to a remote location in the corner of one of the dead ends in the Seireitei. Yachiru lifted a large stone revealing an opening into the ground.

"Get in," she smiled.

Shigeru dropped down the opening as Yachiru followed after, closing the opening behind her. Shigeru blinked at the underground tunnel that appeared to be a well lit hallway. Yachiru took hold of her hand and dragged her along.

"_This child has wayyy too much freedom and time. These tunnels prove it_," Shigeru mused.

After about 10 minutes of walking they came to a stop. Yachiru placed her small hands on the wall, pushing open a hidden door. Shigeru placed around the room filled with lounging mats, hundreds of treats, and toys. The hyperactive girl pulled the other into the room.

"Welcome to the Shinigami's Women Association hideout," she beamed.

Yachiru forced Shigeru to sit on one of the many mats as she pulled out a couple of snacks from her pile. They spent the time playing with toys and eating snacks the whole time they were in the hidden room that was more than likely in the Kuchiki Manor.

Yachiru suddenly hopped up, "Let's see the fish!"

She followed the small girl through the hall of Kuchiki Manor avoiding the servants that were scattered about.

"_I can't believe I let a small child coerce me into breaking and entering_," Shigeru sweat-dropped.

They exited the mansion into the courtyard. It was quite beautiful. Filled with cherry blossom trees, lush well trimmed grass, and the large koi pond that Yachiru jumped toward. Shigeru joined the girl by the edge of the pond. Her eyes widened as she watched the giant koi fish swim around each other in the pond.

"Aren't they great," Yachiru asked as she placed a hand in the water.

The fish swam away from the sudden vibrations.

Shigeru smiled, "Yes, they are!"

"Who goes there?!"

Shigeru snapped her head to the side to see men dressed in purple ninja like outfits. They wore headbands that said Kuchiki on them.

Shigeru laughed, "_Security guards! Seems pointless when the head of the house is one of the most powerful members in clan history to date._"

"Uh-oh! Run, Shi-Shi," Yachiru giggled as she shunpo-ed away from the pond onto the edge of the roof.

Shigeru dodged one of the guards following after the girl.

"Get back here!"

The two girls giggled as they ran throughout Kuchiki Manor.

* * *

_Another Day at Night_

Ikkaku invited Shigeru to a drinking party for the lieutenants and other seated officers. They entered the room together to find things already in full swing.

Renji perked up, he cheeks already flushed, waving at the girl, "Shigeru! How have you been?!"

"I'm alive, that's all that matters," she grinned, taking a seat next to the red-head hoping he didn't hear about her and Yachiru's run in with the Kuchiki Clan's security guards.

They may or may not have caused a few unintentional injuries. Unintentional, she promises!

Some of the other's in the room who were unfamiliar with who she was gazed at her curiously. Ikkaku slapped himself on the forehead.

"Guys! This is Shigeru Kuroi," he announced to the others in the room.

Shigeru grinned, "Hi!"

Shuhei, Izuru, Iba, and Rangiku introduced themselves happily.

"We've heard so much about you," Rangiku smiled as she offered her a cup.

Shigeru caught a whiff of the alcohol and instantly knew it was some strong stuff.

"Yeah...I'm going to be hungover tomorrow," she laughed as she threw the drink back.

The group started to converse and enjoy their drinks. Ikkaku recounted the arm wrestling incident with back at the squad, much to her embarrassment.

Renji patted her hard on the back, "Wanna try doing that tonight?"

"Not in your life! Never again," she laughed.

Renji chuckled before pouring her another drink, "You know, Shigeru...you're a pretty cool person. I'm sorry I planned to kill you back in the World of the Living."

"I'm sorry I kicked you in the face and sent you flying and called you a pineapple _and_ helped Ichigo hide Zabimaru from you that one time―," she confessed drunkenly.

He wrapped an arm around her next, nooging her, "I knew it was you brats!"

"Oh, you love us," she grinned, chuckling uncontrollably.

Renji released her, her hair now a mess, but she didn't mind as she poured him another drink. She was having too much fun to care about it. The seated officers and lieutenants were so fun to be around. They had all the tea about their captains and others around the Seireitei. Yumichika frowned at Shigeru's disheveled appearance.

"Such a shabby look. This won't do," he chastised the girl as he started combing through her hair.

Shigeru tilted her head toward the man, "Aw, you think I'm pretty?!"

"I wouldn't be bothered with you if I didn't. Only the beautiful are worth my time," Yumichika flipped his hair over his shoulders.

As the man worked on fixing up her hair, Shigeru turned to Rangiku as the busty lieutenant slumped over the table, sighing heavily.

"_She must be thinking about Gin...poor Rangiku. They really do love each other…_," Shigeru pouted.

Her thoughts drifted to her original world, and the people she loved. It was moments like this that she really missed everyone. She really missed drinking and joking around with her older sister and cousins. Sitting around listening to her uncles, aunts, and parents recount the embarrassing stories of their childhood along with some of her and her cousins. Like how her sister duct taped herself to a chair and tried to slide down the house stairs as a toddler, because she was trying to recreate a _Three Stooges_ episode where they were sledding down a snowy mountain. Till this day her father had no clue how she managed to tape both her feet, hands, and chest. Then there was that time Shigeru made a bowl of cereal with expired milk. It gave her the worst stomach ache ever! When her dad picked her up she threw up all over his back! He still laughs at how she cried while apologizing. Karaoke with her cousins, barbecues, birthday parties, the excitement of babysitting the babies….

Shigeru smiled sadly as she lowered the cup she was sipping from back to the table.

Then her friends, her best friends. There were moments when Ichigo would make her so angry, and she'd grab her phone to call her best friend since middle school, Armand...only to realize he didn't exist here. The first time she found herself doing that she almost broke down and cried. He and his girlfriend had a baby on the way. She was supposed to be the Godmother...

Shigeru just came to accept that there were just going to be days like this. No matter how happy she was here while meeting new people, she would always miss her previous life. She couldn't bury down that loneliness deep enough inside her heart.

Shigeru patted Rangiku on the back to offer her the comfort she wished someone could truly offer her. Rangiku perked up, lifting her head up to peer at the brunette.

Shigeru grinned at the woman, "Cheer up! I'm sure that everything will turn out fine. One of those guys that bailed was your friend, right? Destiny will pull your paths back together if that's the way it's meant to be."

Rangiku sniffled and pulled Shigeru into her bosom, squeezing the girl tight.

"Shigeru! You little angel," Rangiku beamed cheerfully.

Shigeru was suffocating in the voluptuous women's boobs, "_Can't... breathe…!_"

"Rangiku! You're killing her," Renji yelled, trying to separate the two.

Rangiku pulled the girl closer to her, "No! She's just too adorable and sweet!"

"She needs air, woman," Ikkaku yelled, attempting to snatch the choking girl from her.

Shigeru's eyes had already rolled to the back of her head from lack of oxygen.

Yumichika managed to pry the brunette from the drunken lieutenant. Rangiku whined before slinging an arm around her next victims Shuhei and Izuru.

Shigeru's head was laid in Yumichika's lap. The man fanned her as he sipped his drink. He sighed as the other men wrestled with the drunken Rangiku.

* * *

_The Next Day_

Shigeru followed Rukia to the Squad 13 barracks. Apparently, Ukitake wanted to speak with her about something.

"Now that you aren't fighting everyone, how do you like the Seireitei," Rukia asked as they walked.

Shigeru shrugged, "It's cool. I'm getting along with everyone, and having fun."

"You mean all the drinking parties with the lieutenants," Rukia snickered.

Shigeru scratched her cheek nervously, "Those parties get a little crazy, you know?"

"How are you _not_ hungover," Rukia grinned at the taller girl.

"Who says I'm not," Shigeru whined because in all honesty she was feeling a little like shit.

Rukia laughed as they entered the barracks. After almost dying via Rangiku's boobs, she had decided no more drinking while in the Seireitei. Plus, it made her think too many depressing thoughts if she wasn't careful enough.

They walked over to the office of the captain. Rukia knocked on the door.

"Sir, it's Rukia! I've brought Shigeru," she announced.

"Come on in," Ukitake called from the other side of the door.

Rukia opened the door and motioned for Shigeru to enter. She took a step into the officer. It was a pretty simple office. Rear windows, a large wooden desk in the middle of the room, and bookshelves filled with scrolls and paperwork. She was surprised that Kotetsu and Kiyone were nowhere in sight. She assumed they were probably hiding in the vents or something.

Ukitake smiled gently at the girl and motioned for her to take a seat on the chair in front of the desk he was sitting.

"Come in," he glanced at Rukia, who hadn't entered, "I'll send for you once we've finished talking, Rukia. Thank you."

The small raven-haired woman bowed, "Of course, Captain."

She closed the door as she departed. Shigeru stood around awkwardly rubbing her arm.

"_Why do I feel like a student coming to the principal's office for the first time because they finally cussed out that one asshole teacher that no one liked_," she frowned.

Ukitake chuckled at her nervousness.

"Please, take a seat. This won't take long," the white snowed man smiled.

Shigeru made her way over to the seat and plopped down. He offered her a bowl filled with treats. She gladly took one.

"Now, Shigeru...I had a couple of questions for you today," Ukitake tucked his chin into his hands as he leaned forward.

Shigeru swallowed the last of her treat, wiping the crumbs from her face, "Okay, what is it that you want to know?"

The man stared into her brown eyes, "Do you remember what happened on the bridge to the Repentance Cell?"

She locked her fingers behind her neck and shrugged, "No, I don't, but Yoruichi told me what I did. I kind of have a...condition."

"Explain it to me," he requested gently.

Shigeru placed her hands in her lap, "Only if this stays between us. I'm not keen on your new Central 46 catching wind of this. They aren't exactly the most reliable people in power."

Ukitake took in the girl's cautiousness, and he respected it. Central 46 wasn't exactly known for their fair judgement.

Ukitake placed a hand to his chest and nodded, "You have my word."

"You could say that I have the uncanny ability to absorb the reiryoku of spiritual beings and make it my own. I don't really have control over this, but a few days ago I went into some weird trace due to my wounds. I was trying to gather energy to heal faster or something, at least that's what Yoruichi hypotheses," Shigeru quickly explained before taking a bite of another rice cracker.

She leaned back in her seat, taking in the man's contemplative expression. Shigeru didn't know what was going through the man's head, but she had a small inkling.

Ukitake glanced up from his deep thoughts, "_That doesn't explain how she, a human, knows of Mimihagi… What does this all mean?_"

"Is there a problem, Ukitake," she asked innocently.

Ukitake perked up, but smiled, "No...not at all. So, Shigeru, tell me more about yourself."

Shigeru blinked in surprise at that request, but she shrugged.

"_It wouldn't hurt. It's Ukitake __after all_," she smiled softly.

She leaned back, taking the bowl of treats with her, and crossing her legs.

"It all started long ago when a man met a woman…," she grinned widely.

The two spent a couple of hours talking. Ukitake enjoyed Shigeru's tales of her childhood, hobbies, and how she became a substitute shinigami. She listened as he detailed his family and his many siblings, as well as his time at the academy, and his friendship with Shunsui.

"I heard from Rukia you like the occasional drink. I'd love for you to join me and Shunsui sometime tonight," he grinned.

Shigeru gagged and shuddered a little, "With all due respect, I've done enough drinking during my time here. Maybe another time."

Ukitake looked at the clock on his wall, "Oh, look at the time! I should send for Rukia to take you back."

"I enjoyed our talk," she grinned at the man.

She stood up to stretch out her limbs. A hell butterfly went fluttering out the window.

"She should be here in a few minutes," he announced.

Shigeru nodded, "I'll just meet her halfway!"

Ukitake stood from his seat and walked in front of the girl. He patted her on the head in a fatherly way.

"I'll keep my promise. No one will know what we've talked about today," the white-haired captain reassured her.

She chuckled and grinned brightly at the man, "Great because I don't want to go on a rampage in the Seireitei! It wouldn't end well for any of us!"

The man sweat-dropped at that.

* * *

_Day of Departure_

It was their last day in the Soul Society. They would be heading home later on today. Shigeru had joined in on the training session in squad 11, much to the fear of the lower squad members who were traumatized by her display of skills previously seen. She decided to give the group of men a much needed break from her, and Ikkaku took over the sparring. He sent a few men flying out the window as the rest cowered on the floor.

"Shigeru, these men are a sorry lot! Let's show them how it's done," Ikkaku demanded as he tossed a wooden sword her way.

She grinned widely as she snatched the sword from the air.

"Hell yeah!"

She stepped forward and assumed a fighting stance. Ikkaku grinned as he charged at her. She blocked his barrage of blows. Shigeru distanced herself before feinting a blow to the man's right side, but when he went to block she swept her foot under his legs, knocking him off balance. She aimed a blow to his stomach, but he rolled out the way. Shigeru stabbed through the tatami mat with the wooden sword. The men on the sidelines shuddered.

"_Why is our Goddess so terrifying_," they cried.

Ikkaku laughed, "Yes! See _this_ is how you men should be in battle!"

The two continued to spar, laughing, and sweating. Shigeru panted and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her forearm.

She laughed, "Damn, Ikkaku! If we didn't have wooden swords, we could probably go all out!"

Ikkaku charged at the girl aiming for her vulnerable spots, but Shigeru managed to block his blows.

"That's because outside of sparring I'll never have the chance to seriously fight you again," the third seat grinned madly.

He managed to strike Shigeru on her left side. She grunted from the impact. Shigeru lifted her sword to strike, but Ikkaku quickly closed the distance between them striking again. Shigeru dropped down to avoid the blow, hooking her foot around his leg to bring him down with her. She quickly knocked his sword away from him. It slid over to the waiting men of Squad 11. Shigeru wasted no time pinning the bald man down, her wooden sword pointed at his throat.

"I win," she smirked, panting.

Ikkaku laughed in defeat. She got off of him and helped the man off the floor. They patted each other on the back as they laughed.

He went to pick up his wooden sword, glancing at his fellow squad members.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell is wrong with you guys! Are you all too cowardly to step up? Useless," Ikkaku chastised the trembling men.

Shigeru giggled as she went to grab her waiting zanpakuto by the windows, sliding them into her purple obi.

Ichigo walked into the room, wooden sword over his shoulder, "I'll take you on, Ikkaku."

Shigeru shook her head as the two began arguing over something stupid. As soon as their swords crossed, the door was kicked open by Kenpachi. The men stood up to bow to him.

"Good Morning, Captain," they yelled.

Ikkaku and Ichigo stopped all movement. Shigeru simply grinned and waved at the captain and Yachiru.

"Yo! Mornin'," she smiled.

Yachiru waved back at the teen she was pretty attached to, "Morning Shi-Shi!"

Kenpachi eyed the orange-haired shinigami, "Hm, you look pretty energetic, Ichigo. Are all your injuries healed?"

It took sessions of Orihime healing him during the week to get him completely healed. Aizen did all but slice him in half, and Orihime was still getting the hang of healing others. So besides getting some fresh air, by taking short walks with Shigeru, he hadn't gotten much action.

"Yeah. Thanks to you, I'm pretty much―"

Ichigo paled as Kenpachi sliced his wooden sword in half.

"Good, now we can have a rematch," the taller man chuckled darkly.

Ichigo turned as pale as a ghost.

Kenpachi glanced at Shigeru and grinned, "How 'bout it, Shigeru? You wanna join in too?"

Shigeru gripped her sword grinning madly at the captain, "Sure! We can have another go!"

Before she could attack, Ichigo grabbed Shigeru by the back of her robes. He jumped clear out the window.

"I'm never fighting you again, you crazy bastard," Ichigo screamed as he ran away with the brunette.

She struggled to get out of his grip, "Speak for yourself! It's just sparring!"

"We almost died the first time we fought him! Are you nuts," he yelled over his shoulder.

Shigeru crossed her arms as she pouted, "I think of it as a learning experience…"

"You've learned nothing!"

Kenpachi was somewhere behind them, "Get back here, Ichigo!"

Ichigo promptly sped up.

He slowed down and released Shigeru once they were far away from Squad 11. She ran her fingers through her wild hair before pouting at her companion.

She punched him in the arm, "You're no fun!"

"Come on, Shigeru! That man terrifies me, okay," Ichigo whined.

Shigeru shrugged before crossing her arms, "He's actually not that bad."

"That's because he has a thing for you," he complained, waving wildly, "but with me he's always trying to kill me!"

Shigeru laughed at that, "He's not trying to kill you! Kenpachi just thinks you're a guaranteed good fight."

Ichigo crossed his arms grumbling, "Whatever…"

"Ichigo! Shigeru!"

They stopped walking and turned to see a bent over Orihime trying to catch her breath.

"I can't find Rukia," she gasped.

Shigeru watched the two run off in the direction of Squad 4's hospital. Honestly, she wanted to go back to play with Ikkaku and the other's back at the 11th, but then again she wanted to see Byakuya too.

"_Guess I'll follow them_," she shrugged, shunpo-ing after the two.

The closed in on the hospital and Ichigo hopped up to the third-story window. Shigeru helped Orihime to scale the wall, not that she really needed it.

"Ichigo~ Don't you know how dangerous it is to climb this far up a building," Orihime chastised.

Shigeru sat in the windowsill, kicking her legs.

"Sorry to bother you Renji, Byakuya! We've gotta go," Ichigo yelled before he and Orihime hopped down the building, taking off.

Shigeru stayed behind. The two gazed at her curiously.

"What," she blinked.

Renji pointed in the direction the other two ran off in, "You're not going with them?"

"We aren't joined to the hip, contrary to popular belief," Shigeru shrugged.

She peered at Byakuya. The man was wrapped in bandages from the neck down, dressed in a simple white kimono. His hair, completely void of his kenseikan.

She placed her elbows on her lap, chin resting in her hands, grinning at the beautiful man before her.

"So...how are you feeling," she asked the captain before her.

He blinked as if unsure on how to interact with the teen, "...Fine."

She smiled at his awkwardness, "That's good! Glad to see you're doing well!"

Renji's eyes flicked between the two. Despite his captain's stoniness he could tell he didn't know how to deal with the girl, and Shigeru was loving it. He snickered mentally. His captain was extremely popular as you might imagine, but no woman as bold as Shigeru when it came down to interacting with him or, well, with anyone for that matter. That's one reason Renji enjoyed the girl so much. She treated everyone equally from what he'd seen.

"Shigeru Kuroi...what is the _real_ purpose of this visit," Byakuya eyed the girl suspiciously.

She giggled, "Boredom really, and I felt kinda bad for not checking on you during all this time. We're allies now and all!"

Byakuya scoffed at the notion, "Your concern is unnecessary. Regardless if we are allies now, we were enemies before, and given the chance I would have followed through with my duty to eliminate you and Ichigo as well."

Shigeru turned to face the raven-haired captain as she crouched in the window to get closer to him and smiled, "Stop being such a stick in the mud! You'll be seeing a lot of us, you know?!"

She leaned over to kiss the man lightly on the cheek. Shigeru laughed at the wide eyed expression the usually stoic captain was sporting.

"_Oh my god! He's so precious_," Shigeru laughed as she covered her growing grin.

"Shigeru! That's very inappropriate," Renji yelled flustered by second hand embarrassment.

She waved him off, "Oh, grow up! It's _fine_!"

She suddenly sensed a familiar presence. Shigeru looked down the building to see Kenpachi and Yachiru.

"Shigeru?! Where did Ichigo go," the spiky haired man yelled up.

She responded, "Out on an errand!"

"Well are you going to stay up there all day, or are you going to spar with me," he grinned up to the girl.

Shigeru grinned down, "I'll be down in a sec!"

She faced the other two in the hospital room and grinned.

"See you around, Byakuya! I wish you a speedy recovery! Bye, Renji," she winked before hopping out the window.

She landed on Kenpachi's back next to Yachiru and the hand ran back toward his squad.

Renji glanced over to his captain who looked deep in thought.

"Are you alright, Captain," he asked.

Byakuya hummed, "I hope this won't become a habit of hers…"

Unbeknownst to him, Shigeru had already decided that she was definitely going to make it a habit.

* * *

_Departure Time_

It was time for them to leave. Ukitake, Rukia, and the rest of the captains and lieutenants met them at the Senkaimon they had prepared for their departure.

"Ichigo and Shigeru. A moment," he waved the two over to him.

He handed them both substitute shinigami badges. Shigeru stared at the little badge with the skull insignia.

"Do I really _need_ this," she sighed.

Ukitake smiled, "It recognizes you as a member of the Soul Society, and with it you can hunt hollows in Karakura. Take good care of it."

"Ugh, I suppose," she groaned as she pocketed the thing.

She had no real intentions of keeping in on her person once they were back in the World of the Living. She preferred using her glove or Soul Candy to release her spiritual body. Shigeru also didn't want the Soul Society thinking she was another one of their little pawns like they'll treat Ichigo in the future.

They all said their goodbyes to Rukia. Shigeru chatted quickly with the lieutenants and seat officers who made her promise to return for drinks. Yachiru bounced over to Shigeru.

"You'll come back to play with me, right," the small pink-haired child asked.

Shigeru picked the girl up into her arms and smiled, "Whenever I'm allowed to, okay?"

Yachiru nodded, "See ya later, Shi-Shi!"

"See you later, Yachiru," she grinned as she placed the girl back on the ground.

Rukia grabbed Shigeru by the wrist, "Shigeru, wait a moment."

"What's up?"

The smaller woman smiled and pointed to the group ahead of her, "Keep Ichigo out of trouble, okay?"

"That's if I'm not the one to start it," she laughed.

Rukia and Shigeru nodded one last time. Shigeru returned to join the rest of the group as they prepared to enter the rift between dimensions. Shigeru saluted the shinigami of the Gotei 13 one last time before they ran into the Senkaimon.

And ran that had to do, as a cleaner was dead on their tails once again.

Ichigo yelled at Yoruichi, "Why do we have to go through this again?!"

"I'm really regretting all that drinking I did now," Shigeru moaned as they ran through the rift.

Ichigo yelled, "Stop complaining and hurry up!"

"I'm trying," she cried.

They quickly gained on the end of the tunnel. When they exited they all screamed as they were suspended in the air. They heard something fire off. They all were enveloped in a giant sheet, they sent them flying further into the air screaming in confusion.

"What the hell is this?!"

They went spinning.

"I think I'm going to throw up!"

"Don't you fucking dare! Gross!"

They all landed on something solid. The sheet was pulled off of the group, their bodies all tangled together. Kisuke sat at the head of the flying magic carpet, as Shigeru deemed it.

"Welcome back everyone~!"

Shigeru's head was still spinning from their trippy arrival.

"_I just want to sleep now_," she declared dizzily.

She perked up when he noticed Kisuke bowing before them apologizing for his deceptions. Ichigo shrugged the man off. Shigeru placed her arm over her face. It wasn't like any of them were angry about what he did even if he went about it the wrong way. She sighed smiling softly.

They were safe, stronger, and home in one piece. That's all that mattered.

"_I'm napping_," she declared, despite it already quickly becoming morning with the sun slowly rising.

Kisuke started dropping the group off one-by-one close to their homes.

Shigeru couldn't sleep, however. There were too many thoughts running through her mind.

Ichigo poked Shigeru, when they were the remaining two.

"I know you're not sleeping. Are you staying with me," he asked, poking the girl in her cheek persistently.

A vein throbbed on her head as she swatted his hand away, "No, not today, but I'll be over some time tomorrow."

"If you say so, sis," the boy grinned as the girl grumbled to herself.

Ichigo perked up when he noticed the river his mother was died.

"Kisuke, you can let me off here!"

The magic carpet lowered enough for the boy to jump, but before he did he turned to Shigeru. He placed a hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

"Why," she whined.

He leaned over and pecked her on the top of her head, "See ya tomorrow, pain in the ass."

"Ewww! Too much affection," Shigeru gagged.

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he hopped down to be by himself. Yoruichi sighed and faced her pupil.

"We droppin' you off at home, or are you coming to the Shoten with us," she asked, tail flicking playfully.

Shigeru sighed, "Home, please!"

She wanted nothing more than to cuddle with her multiple fluffy pillows in her comfy bed.

Kisuke covered his face with his fan as he grinned, "Your body is still at the shop actually, so you have to come with us either way!"

She sat up and frowned at the man, "Why is my body still there?!"

The man shrugged, "You told me to take care of it, didn't you?"

"...You better not have done anything strange to my body, you pervy old man," she glared.

"Hey, I'm not old!"

She shook her head, "_And yet he doesn't deny the pervy comment…_"

They made their way to the shop. Shigeru decided she would just stay until she woke up from her official nap. She glanced up at the now cloudy sky. During her time in the Seireitei, Shigeru had come to several self-realizations. There were many things that she had to overcome personally.

"Kisuke, Yoruichi…," she called.

They both glanced at the girl.

Shigeru looked at the two with a seriousness that they forgot she could display.

"I'd like to ask a favor…"

**Author's Note: This chapter took a way longer to write due to a mild case procrastination, but it was finished nonetheless! Just Shigeru chilling in the Seireitei. I stated in the last chapter that I was going to go on a mini hiatus, but since I took forever doing this chapter I decided against it. The initial reason for the hiatus was that I wanted to take a couple days to draw Shigeru! I'll make them way better than my quick doodle that I'm using as the cover picture (also drawn by me :3). I actually received some fanart of Shigeru from Catcassie! And I absolutely love it! (Thank you again for sharing that with me btw!) Everything is plotted out smoothly for the Winter War. Until next week guys! The Arrancars make their debut in the next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: Hello all! I don't have any real comments this week. I hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks for reading as always!**

Chapter 13: Shinigamis, Arrancars, and Visoreds! Oh My!

_September 1st, Kuroi Apartment_

It was the first day of the new semester, and Shigeru was already exhausted just thinking about what was waiting for her on the horizon.

The inter-dimensional, substitute shinigami was up earlier than usual this morning to prepare for the upcoming school day. She stood in the bathroom mirror french braiding the top half of her hair, which was a tiring task (she'd always struggled with french braids and would have her mom or older cousins do it for her), but she was getting better at the task with weekly practice. Trial and error, people! She pulled the ends of the braids into a bun on the top of her head, leaving the rest of her hair hanging down in coily, wet curls.

Shigeru smiled triumphantly at the results, "Oh yeah! It's all coming together! Practice does make perfect."

She rushed into her room to get dressed as she squeezed the excess water into her towel. As she buttoned up her shirt her mind wandered to her conversation with Kisuke and Yoruichi the morning everyone returned from the Soul Society.

"_I'd like to ask a favor…"_

_Kisuke and Yoruichi glanced at each other._

"_Which would be…," the blonde inquired._

_Shigeru sat up, leaning on her knee, "Can you help me get this, uh, energy absorption thing under control?"_

_Yoruichi grinned as she hopped on his shoulder, "Oh, I was wondering when you'd ask? What do you say Kisuke? Think you can come up with something to help our Little Shigeru?"_

_Kisuke rubbed the stubble on his chin, racking his mind for several possible solutions and training regimens to assist Shigeru. He'd actually been working on some prototype instruments for her since the Menos incident. He found her little ability to be very interesting, and Kisuke was dying to observe it up close in action more. _

_He waved his fan, "I don't see why not! When would you like to start this training?"_

"_As soon as possible," Shigeru sighed._

"_I'll see what I can do...Is there anything else," he asked as he observed the brunette._

_Shigeru cupped her chin as she thought out loud, "Learning some basic Kido techniques wouldn't hurt either...and healing techniques as well." _

_Tessai finally spoke up from his spot behind them with the kids, "I can instruct you in the ways of Kido. It would be an honor."_

_She smiled at the large man, "Thank you, Tessai! It's much appreciated!"_

_The black cat walked over to the girl, "We've got you covered, Shigeru."_

"_I knew you would," she laughed, grateful for the three skilled shinigami._

_Kisuke moved closer to the girl to rustle her already wild hair, "Stop by the shop tomorrow night. I should have something ready by then." _

Now fully dressed in her school uniform, she padded around her apartment barefoot, towel over her still drying hair. She went to the kitchen to get a glass of orange juice along with a bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

Shigeru glanced at the clock on her wall as she bit into her bagel, "I start heading out in about 30 minutes or so…"

Shigeru returned to her room to pull on her knee high socks and a pair of spandex shorts. She'd been training her ass with what little time that was left of summer vacation, and she had to admit that it was challenging. She also went to visit her aunt for a few days, after being guilt tripped by her of course. Now she had to adjust her schedule to deal with school, personal training, hunting hollows, and spending time with her friends.

"I haven't had to multitask like this since college," she mumbled as she gathered her things to leave the apartment.

Once outside she smiled as the sun's rays hit her skin.

"Let's make this a great day," she declared before turning on her heel toward the high school.

* * *

_Karakura High School_

Shigeru practically skipped down the halls on her way to the classroom. For some reason she was just in an extremely jovial mood. She entered the class 1-3.

"Good morning, everyone," she beamed, waving at everyone in the class.

She quickly dropped her things on her desk.

"Shi~ge~ru~!"

Keigo launched himself at her, but she reflexively uppercut the boy, sending him flying into some desk.

"Oh! Hello, Keigo," she grinned down at him before waving at Mizuiro.

He lifted a shaky thumb and he stuttered, "I-I've missed you, Shigeru…"

She perked up when she noticed Orihime giggling, surrounded by the guys. Shigeru ran over to the gang, all smiles.

"Mornin' guys," she beamed, hugging Orihime.

Ichigo patted Shigeru on the head, "You coming over for dinner? Yuzu and Karin demand it."

Shigeru had been skipping out of the family dinners at the Kurosaki's frequently due to her training, usually opting to eat at the shop with Ururu and Jinta, but she was feeling bad for not spending time with the twins.

She nodded, "Yeah, I'll help Yuzu with dinner tonight, but I'll have to leave after eating."

"Where have you been going at night," he looked at her face, full of suspicion.

"Oh, you know, studying and whatnot," she lied.

"Studying," Uryuu questioned, adjusting his glasses.

He crossed his arms, lifting a brow, "Since when do you study before a term begins?"

"Uh...when you want to be prepared for anything," Shigeru laughed.

Orihime beamed, "That sounds amazing, Shigeru! Then maybe you'll beat Uryuu during exam time!"

"I highly doubt that, Hime," Shigeru chuckled, patting her on the head.

Shigeru glanced back to Ichigo, who still wasn't buying anything that she was saying. He opened his mouth to say something, but then Chizuru appeared behind the unsuspecting Orihime, grabbing two handfuls of her busty boobs.

"Kyah!"

"I've missed you Orihime!"

Like a knight defending their charge, Tatsuki appeared from the light, round housing Chizuru in the face. The poor girl with tumbling to where Keigo was still twitching.

Blood dripped down her nose as she raised a shaky thumb, "You... got me good...Tatsuki!"

Tatsuki huffed as she flung her school bag over her shoulder.

Shigeru playfully punched the karate champion in the shoulder, "How's it going, Tatsuki?"

"Great, but I'd be better if _that_ didn't act like a fool all the time," she sighed as she pointed in the direction of the two friendly perverts of the group.

The shorter girl turned to Ichigo as he greeted her. She blinked when she noticed the shinigami badge.

"What's that," she asked.

Shigeru eyed the badge attached to the front of his pants, as Ichigo panicked over the seal that Isshin sewed to his shirt.

"I'm not talking about the charm. I know that's your dad's handiwork. I'm talking about that thing," Tatsuki pointed to the badge with the skull insignia.

Ichigo froze as he looked up to Tatsuki.

"...You can see this?"

Tatsuki blinked, "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

She turned to Shigeru as she pointed to Ichigo, "Did you hit him in the head one too many times or something?"

"Yeah, the beating might finally be affecting his brain cells! My bad," Shigeru laughed.

Ichigo frowned at the two girls before him, but he had a bad feeling since Tatsuki could see something that only spiritually aware people should be seeing. Ochi-sensei entered that class and everyone filed to their seats. As soon as they sat down Ichigo's badge started screeching to high hell.

"Hollow! Hollow! Hollow!"

Everyone that could hear it jumped in their seats, especially Shigeru, who didn't expect it to be that loud in real life.

"Jesus," she sighed, clenching her chest.

Ichigo hopped up and ran out of the classroom. Ochi-sensei ran after him, questioning where he was going. Orihime and Chad were right behind him leaving Uryuu and Shigeru in the class. He turned in his seat to glance at her.

He whispered, "Why aren't you going with them?"

"We all don't need to go after one measly hollow, you know," she shrugged.

He nodded, facing the front of the class. Shigeru glanced at Tatsuki who was watching a black-clad running off in the distance.

"Tatsuki," she grabbed the girls attention.

She blinked at the brunette.

Shigeru smiled as she leaned on her crossed arms, "Tell me about your summer."

Tatsuki stared at the girl for a second and sighed, "Alright…"

Shigeru listened to the girl detail her summer while they were away in the Soul Society, though Ochi-sensei chastised them for talking during the morning announcements. The two snickered as the others came back to the classroom, taking their seats once again. She twirled her pencil between her finger as she glanced out the window into the clear blue sky.

"_Ugh...they'll be here sooner than later_," she groaned, not looking forward to dealing with the Arrancars.

* * *

_After School, Kurosaki Residence_

As promised, Shigeru went to the Kurosaki's to assist Yuzu with dinner, and boy did she get an earful from Karin for not visiting as often as she used to.

"Sorry, sorry! I've been a little busy," she patted the tomboy on the head.

Karin swatted her hand away, "Meh, teenagers!"

"Oh, don't be that way, Karin! You never know, Shigeru probably has a boyfriend," Yuzu teased as she tied her apron.

Shigeru choked on her own spit, "Yuzu!"

Karin laughed and poked the teen in the side.

"Does Ichigo or Dad know about your secret boyfriend," Karin grinned, wiggling an eyebrow.

Shigeru whined, "I don't have one!"

She ran upstairs away from the twin's teases to Ichigo's room where Uryuu was fixing the disfigured Kon. She covered her mouth to prevent her laughter from spilling out when she saw the blonde pinwheel curls on the sentient plushie.

"Perfect," Uryuu declared, fixing his glasses.

Kon attacked the Quincy, yelling that it was horrible. Uryuu fixed the doll the way that it preferred after the soft beating he received. She sat on Ichigo's bed as the boys conversed, and Kon, well, complained.

"_Uryuu never really expresses himself openly, so it's kind of hard to know what he's thinking. I wonder if I should talk to him about losing his powers...or maybe that's too invasive. We don't really hang out like that, but I do want to get closer to him, Chad, and Orihime. I spend way too much time with Ichigo, I will admit,_" she pondered as she kicked her legs back and forth.

Uryuu had finished stitching up the stuffed lion and grabbed his bag to leave. She waved the boy off. Once he was gone, she faced Ichigo.

"How have you been feeling lately," she asked, thinking about his inner hollow.

Ichigo shrugged, leaning back in his desk chair, "I've been alright, why?"

"Well, remember back in the Soul Society... during the battle with Byakuya," Shigeru pressed, moving closer to him.

An emotion she couldn't quite name flashes across his face. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"Oh, you mean that…"

She waved her hands in front of her apologetically, "I don't mean to pry! I'm just wondering because...you always try to deal with some heavy shit on your own…"

Ichigo seemed deep in thought, his frown deepening.

"Actually, we don't have to talk about it right now if you don't―"

"I can feel _his_ presence."

Shigeru lowered her hands as she listened to Ichigo speak about his inner hollow for the first time.

"I always feel it. I can hear his voice...it was far away at first, but it's been getting closer... I'm fine though. I'm dealing with it," Ichigo reassured her, giving her his fake smile.

Shigeru frowned at that, "_I hate when he does that…_"

But she didn't push the subject anymore.

Shigeru placed a friendly hand on his shoulder, "I'm here for you, just remember that, okay?"

He smirked and nodded.

Shigeru hopped off the bed and stretched, "I'll be downstairs helping Yuzu if you need me!"

"Wait, weren't you supposed to be already doing that anyway? Why're you up here," he questioned as he pulled out his homework from the school bag next to his desk.

She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck, "It's a girl thing."

Shigeru went back down to the kitchen. She grabbed the extra apron, and went to work on the task at hand. Karin teased her from the couch, which led to Isshin flipping out.

"Who is this boy you're seeing," he wailed, shaking her shoulders.

Shigeru was getting dizzy as the man shook her, "I'm. Not. Dating. Anyone!"

Ichigo finally descended the stairs and close-lined his dad.

"Stop bothering her already, old man," he sighed, before taking a seat at the table.

That night the girls made Shigeru promise that they would be the first people to be introduced to any future partners. They wanted to be the one to judge if they were worthy, not trusting Isshin or even Ichigo's judgement. She couldn't help but laugh at that. The two girls were really something, and she loved it.

Shigeru spent the rest of her time cleaning, sending Yuzu and Karin off to do their homework. Once she was done she grabbed her things.

"I'm off! I'll see you all in a couple days," she called on her way to the front door.

She heard a chorus of responses from upstairs from the kids. Isshin slid to the door to see her off.

"Be careful on your way, my eldest daughter," Isshin cheered, pulling her into a hug.

She rolled her eyes as she patted the man on the back, "Alright, I will Papa-Isshin."

"Oh, do you still have the charm I gave you," he asked.

Shigeru blinked and smiled, "Yes, I keep it in my pocket. I take it everywhere."

Isshin nodded his head in approval and patted her on the head one more time.

"Good, good…"

On her way to Kisuke's, Shigeru was mentally prepared herself for training. Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Tessai were strict teachers, and didn't take it easy on her for even a second, which she didn't mind, but she was just a little tired tonight.

"_Hopefully I have some better results today_," she sighed, interlocking her fingers behind her head.

Her mind then drifted to all this boyfriend talk she was getting from the girls. She honestly didn't really consider trying to date anyone in this universe, be it the people who were once just fictional characters, or some random normal person here. Not to say she didn't have normal desires or crushes or didn't find most of the men around her attractive. She just wasn't big on relationships, never really finding the one she could completely open her heart to. Sure she'd dated back in her original life, but they never lasted more than a few months. The longest relationship she ever had was purely physical, with a few misunderstandings on both parties' end (catching feelings, then suddenly changing their minds in an useless cycle, which led to her current disposition on the subject of dating). Shigeru just couldn't imagine it being any different here. Besides there were more important things to worry about like saving this universe when the time came.

Love was something that could simply wait, besides she wasn't in a rush for it in the past and surely wasn't in a rush now in her present.

Before she knew it, she was in front of the shop. She sighed before heading inside.

* * *

_Underground Training Facility_

"Ugh! This is stupid hard," Shigeru yelled as she tossed the object of her frustrations to the side.

Kisuke picked up the metal cube, tossing it up and down casually in his hand.

"Now, now, Little Shigeru! No need to be so violent. You've made impressive progress," he smiled as he placed the cube back in her hands.

She placed the metal cube on the ground, crossing her legs, a thin layer of sweat gleaming on her skin.

Kisuke had created a few simple contraptions for Shigeru. Four 8-inch metal cubes, each with gauge on one of the faces measuring from 0 to 100. Each gauge a different color representing the energy of the shinigami it belonged to, red for Kisuke, white for Yoruichi, and a light blue for Tessai. The teen was presented with three goals: restraint, control, and release.

There were several factors about her inability to control her special ability.

One was that she couldn't activate or deactivate it at will. Therefore, the three cubes imbued with the energy of the three captain-level shinigami were created. The first couple of weeks of training she found, much to her frustration, that she couldn't do it intentionally, and struggled to force her body to absorb energy on command.

At some point, Yoruichi suggested she recreate the feeling that she experienced when absorbing Ichigo's energy the first time she'd used her ability. Shigeru couldn't really recall anything except for desperation at that time, and she didn't have the foggiest idea on how to recreate desperation without being in an actual dire situation constantly.

So you want to know what happened?

Kisuke took it upon himself to chase the girl around the training grounds in a deadly game of hide-n-kill, his twisted version of hide-n-seek.

He would give her a 10 second head start to hide somewhere in the grounds, while concealing her reiatsu and without her zanpakutos while he came at Shigeru with a killing intent that rivaled even Kenpachi, which struck a newfound fear of the usually friendly and goofy man. Let's just say after a couple days of that Shigeru did not come out of the experience without some trauma, much to Kisuke's amusement, saying, and she quotes, "I wasn't that bad! We were having fun!" She now understood how Ichigo felt when he trained with the man.

The second problem was the fact that she couldn't control the amount of energy she withdrew from people. In theory, if she wasn't careful she could drain someone to the brink of death, so it would be best to focus particularly on this.

Kisuke would task her with a particular percentage to absorb from each cube a day varying depending on her progress. Initially, no matter how much she was tasked to absorb she would unintentionally absorb all the energy in the cube, becoming feverish or fainting. It took her all of her concentration to take in the amount she was assigned, even then there wasn't much movement on the reiatsu gauge, but they did notice that she had an easier time with Yoruichi's energy compared to the other two.

"_When she was recuperating from her battle with Kenpachi she was taking my energy little by little when I was healing her," Yoruichi recounted._

With that information Kisuke came to the conclusion that once she's taken in the reiatsu of a particular person she's able to take it in at a quicker rate, since her body is already accustomed to the energy. She struggled, but she was making great improvement according to Kisuke. Slowly but surely.

The last issue was her condition after absorbing energy. It was a complete liability that she wanted to rectify.

After observing her up close, Kisuke theorizes that these fever spells were because her body couldn't handle the excess energy that she is receiving properly. The energy was actually too much for her body currently which was why when she first used the ability directly on Ichigo all those cuts sprang up on her arm. Her body was creating openings to release some of that energy while it adapted to the rest. It's because of this that he thinks that she should learn how to release the energy in small spurts versus bottling it all the time. That way she won't have to worry about passing out whenever she absorbs someone's energy.

That where the fourth cube comes in.

After absorbing the energy from one of the other cubes filled with their energy, she has to fill that empty cube with the excess energy. The first time she did it she made the cube explode because she mixed the excess energy with some of her own. She apologized profusely, but Kisuke waved her off quickly creating another one, and reminded her that she needed to filter the energy better.

Once she gets too frustrated with her abilities she would be sent over to Tessai for kido training.

"_I will never, ever, EVER, make fun of Renji for his poor kido control_," she screamed internally the first time a Shakkaho blew up in her face.

According to Tessai, Shigeru was rushing the process, but she was pretty successful nonetheless. She wanted to get to the point where she didn't need to use incantations, mainly because she was constantly forgetting words and phrases. When she did manage to do a spell without the incantation Tessai would make her write on the spell until it was completely engraved in her mind.

"_No skipping steps, Ms. Shigeru. You must have patience," the former head of the Kido Corps chastised_.

Shigeru did get the hang of most of the spells and their applications, including the healing arts, rather quickly, much to Tessai's enjoyment. He was rather proud as a teacher. Tessai noted the girls incredible growth rate, despite her own personal frustrations she was already quickly approaching expert-levels in the short time she had been learning the arts. He even had to pull her to the side one day to tell her not to be such a perfectionist because she was doing perfectly fine as is.

After her Kido lessons she would finish the night with some combat with Yoruichi and Kisuke. If Shigeru was being honest it was usually the easiest portion of her training, and that's with the other woman going all out in her Shunko form. Combat was just more natural for her. The Goddess of Shunpo was determined to condition Shigeru in the more physical techniques like Hoho and the sorts, while Kisuke handled more of the zanjutsu aspect.

Once she was done for the day she asked Kisuke a question she'd been wondering for a while.

"Do you think it's possible for me to carry my zanpakuto around without being in my spiritual body? I mean you carry you're around as a cane, but you're technically in a gigai all the time, so you're in a physical body even if it's fake," she asked the blonde as she caught her breath.

Kisuke rubbed his stubble, "In theory...it should be possible. Why?"

"Just curious really...it might save me time and effort when dealing with small fry hollows. I feel like I'm abusing the Soul Candy you gave me. That stuff isn't addictive is it," she asked thoughtfully before yawning.

Kisuke hummed, "Well, no, they aren't. But if you do try keeping your zanpakuto out people who have awareness might give you strange looks."

Shigeru yawned again before shrugging her shoulders, "As long as it ain't a cop, I don't particularly care."

Kisuke patted the girl on the head, "It's getting late. I can walk you home if you like…"

"I'm a big girl. I can get there myself. Thanks though," she waved the man off as she headed toward the ladder.

After training she'd head home, take a much needed shower, and then sleep like the dead. Not even that loud annoying badge she buried in her closet could wake her if she was tired enough.

Good thing she wasn't the only resident substitute shinigami in the area. Otherwise, a lot of people would be in trouble…

* * *

_At School_

Shigeru yawned quietly as Shinji introduced himself to the class. She wasn't really listening to him as he went on and on about the meaning of the kanji that made up his name. It felt like she only had gotten a couple of hours of sleep before she had to wake up for school, and just couldn't stop yawning. Her body needed to adjust to her new morning routine.

Shigeru eyed the blonde Visored in front of the class.

"_How the hell do these grown ass people masquerade as high schoolers? I'll never know...Anime logic. It would have made more sense if they had sent Mashiro...then again she probably wouldn't be particularly focused,_" she mused as she scratched at one of the braids on her head.

Shinji went to sit next to Ichigo introducing himself. Right as Ichigo was going to introduce himself, the badge screeched.

"Hollow! Hollow!"

Shigeru jolted awake.

"Damn, that thing," she glared at the vibrating badge.

Ichigo ran out of the classroom.

"Bathroom!"

Once in the hall he signaled Shigeru to follow after him. She rolled her eyes and stood up from her seat.

"I gotta go too, Sensei. Upset stomach and all," she lied before she excused herself.

She slowly jogged after him.

"I wanted to nap, Ichigo," she whined.

Back in the classroom Shinji grinned as his eyes followed after the two's retreating forms.

Shinji muttered, "Just like I'd imagine they'd be…"

Chad watched the newcomer silently.

* * *

_Later that Day_

Kisuke had called her on her way home from school informing her that she didn't have to come by today, saying that she deserves a break for all her hard work so far.

"Are you sure? I really don't mind training," she frowned as she stopped at a street crossing.

He chuckled on the other end of the phone, "I'm positive! Take this time to rest. One day without training won't hurt, Little Shigeru."

The crossing changed, signalling the people to walk on. Shigeru readjusted her bag on her shoulder as she moved forward.

"I guess you have a point," she sighed dejectedly.

She at least wanted to show Tessai she had memorized one of the harder spells she'd been struggling with, and she wanted to show Yoruichi that she was getting the hang of Utsunemi.

Kisuke's breathy laugh emitted through the phone, "Unless you just wanted to see me?"

A vein popped on her temple at the suggestion.

"Shut up, Urahara," she growled, before hanging up in the man's face.

Shigeru could just imagine him laughing at her even now.

However, she was grateful for the break so she could start to adjust to her new schedule. Shigeru stopped by the local grocery store to grab a couple of things to cook for dinner and some snacks before going home. If her calculations were right, then Shinji was going to reveal himself to Ichigo and Grand Fisher would return tonight.

"Hmm...yeah they can handle all that by themselves. I don't get paid for this gig," Shigeru mumbled as she entered her apartment, dropping the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter.

She glanced around her apartment. It was pretty messy. Dust was collecting, recycling was overflowing (she took out her trash weekly no matter how busy she was), papers covered with random doodles scattered about with some wayward art supplies. Her bedroom wasn't any better. She had a pile of_ clean_ clothes that she hadn't folded or ironed in weeks, as well as dirty ones. Bed unmade, not that she was active in making her bed in the front place, paperwork and books piled on her desk.

"Cleaning time," she sighed as she went for the cleaning supplies under the sink.

For the next couple hours Shigeru danced around her apartment as she cleaned, making sure not to blast her music too loud so she didn't disturb the neighbors. After cooking a quick and easy dinner she went to shower and plopped into her bed.

"I'll just rest my eyes for a few minutes," she thought as she hugged her pillow close to her chest.

Despite her best efforts Shigeru slipped into a deep slumber.

Not even the aggressive reiatsu of Grand Fisher or the fluctuating reiatsu of Ichigo and Shinji caused her to stir, but her body still managed to reflexively toss her pillow toward her closet with the badge blasting it's warning.

Elsewhere, Grand Fisher was chasing Kon, in Ichigo's body, throughout the city.

"Ichigo Kurosaki! Where is that brown shinigami bitch that was with you before?! After I kill you, I'm going to take my time devouring her," the hulking arrancar bellowed as he attacked the fleeing Mod Soul.

Kon screeched as he avoided the monster's strike.

Back with the slumbering Shigeru.

She was being pulled deep into her subconscious. At first she thought it was just Hiryu Raitora wanting to speak with her, but something felt… wrong. It was cold, so cold. She glanced around the empty darkness she had experienced the first time she'd entered her inner world, but she didn't see the light that led to the realm Hiryu Raitora dwelled. She shivered from the coldness that seeped into her bones. Shigeru rubbed her arm in the hope that the friction would rid her of the goosebumps that covered her.

"_Where are they? Hiryu Raitora_," she called into the darkness, her voice echoing.

She turned around in every direction in search of their warmth, but couldn't sense them. They were far away, too far for her to sense.

"_Hiryu Raitora?! Can you hear me_," she called more desperately for her zanpakuto spirit.

She noticed movement in the corner of her eye. A silhouette of a person was moving in the darkness. It moved further into the blackness of her mind.

"_Hey! Wait_," she yelled at the figure as she chased after it.

The closer she got to it the darker her surroundings seemed to get. Her body became less and less visible to herself, as it usually was in her subconscious. Shigeru's body quaked uncontrollably from the deadly cold that filled the air.

The figure was in arms reach, but something deep inside her was terrified. This figure, whoever, whatever this being was, instilled her was a primordial terror. She didn't like it one bit. It was almost of black as the nothingness that surrounded them, and she assumed that it was male from the outline of it's movements.

It slowly turned its head to face her, but before she could see its face a warm hand covered her eyes. She was pulled into a familiar, hard chest by a pair of strong arms.

"_Shigeru_," both spirits screamed.

Shigeru was pulled into their domain. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, gasping for air.

"What the..._fuck_ was that," Shigeru gasped, clinging to the were-tiger for dear life as her body quacked.

The dragon-woman dropped to her knees, gently but firmly grasping her master's face trying to find any imperfection. She brushed her brown hair out of her face.

"_Shigeru, little one, are you okay? How did you get there_," the woman asked almost frantically.

Shigeru searched her golden eyes and repeated, "_What_ the fuck was that?"

The two spirits' eyes met. The were-tiger sighed deeply pressing her closer to him, giving her his warmth.

"_...You aren't ready to know that_," he declared firmly as he ran his claws through her hair.

Shigeru glared up at the spirit cradling her and then to the other beside her.

"Don't give me that shit! Is that...that _thing_ a part of me, a part of my soul," she probed them for answers.

Her body was starting to relax, but she did not like the feeling that whatever she had just encountered had given her. It was something sinister...well maybe sinister wasn't the right way to describe it, but the uneasiness that it invoked scared her, and Shigeru did _not_ scare easily.

The dragon-woman pinched the bridge of her nose as she searched for a way to address the questions her master was asking.

The were-tiger spoke up instead, " _It's...complicated, but it is technically a part of you. It's not like a hollow or anything, if that's what you're thinking…_"

"_I can tell that guy wasn't a hollow_," she frowned.

The dragon-woman sighed, "_However, we can't tell you about this yet, and we have no intentions to discuss this any further. You still have some maturing to do before you can handle that _things_ power…_"

Shigeru noted the disdain that radiated from the female spirit as she glared past their realm into the darkness beyond.

"But―"

"_Just let it go for now, little one. It's time for you to go back_," the tiger sighed running his hand through her locks.

Shigeru's eyes felt heavy as she felt herself being pushed back to reality. She slowly opened her eyes, instantly closing them as sunlight pooled into her bedroom.

"So much for a 'much needed break'," she mumbled unhappily.

* * *

_At School_

Shigeru entered the classroom a little haggard because when Hiryu Raitora awakened her this morning she'd already slept through her many alarms. She had to rush to get to school on time. She didn't bother re-braiding the top of her hair, so they looked a little frayed, while the rest of her curls were messy, some sticking up at odd angles. Her uniform was a little wrinkled, and in her rush to get to school she'd forgotten to throw on a pair of shorts, so she was feeling a tad uncomfortable.

"_Ugh, maybe I should have just stayed home…_," she huffed, dropping her bag on her desk.

Shigeru noticed that Ichigo was deep in thought at his desk thinking of the events from the previous night. She glanced over to Uryuu, who was glaring out the window deep in his thoughts as well.

Ichigo didn't even notice her approach him as she stepped in front of his desk.

"Ichigo~," she grinned as she poked his forehead.

His scowl temporarily vanished as her grin widened.

"Oh, Shigeru...it's you," Ichigo said plainly as he leaned back in his chair.

Shigeru leaned her arms on his desk as she laughed, "Such a dry greeting! Why the early morning scowling?"

Ichigo eyed here silently.

"What," she blinked, wondering why he was being moodier than usual.

She understood that he was internalizing a lot after his encounter with Shinji last night, and he was worried about his inner hollow and all, but something else seemed to be bothering him.

Ichigo frowned, "Where were you last night?"

Shigeru sighed, "_Oh… I see._"

She pulled a chair up to his desk and sat down. They had a few minutes before class actually started.

"I was at home, cleaning and sleeping. I haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately," Shigeru explained, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh…," was the only thing he said.

Shigeru tilted her head and sighed, "It's about Shinji, isn't it?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to ask her something but was cut off by the two enthusiastic classmates.

"Good Morning, Ichigo and Shigeru," Orihime and Shinji cheered.

Shigeru raised an eyebrow at the de-facto leader of the Visoreds, "Good Morning, Orihime! You too...Shinji."

The blonde latched onto her hands, "You remembered my name! That makes me happy!"

Shigeru stood from her seat and smiled up at the taller blonde, "Of course! We're classmates, and I make it my duty to remember everyone's name!"

Shinji grinned widely, showing off his pearly whites. He slung an arm around her shoulder.

"I think we'll get along just fine," the man laughed.

Keigo appeared glaring at the man.

"Hold it right there buddy! Who gave you permission to get so touchy-feely with my goddess," he pointed an accusatory finger at him.

Shinji pulled her even closer, much to her amusement, "She's fine with it. I don't hear her complaining."

Chizuru had to hold Keigo back as he tried to pounce at the blonde. Ichigo hopped out of his seat and snatched Shinji by his collar, dragging the man out of the classroom much to the confusion of the others.

Shigeru left the class as well to try to eavesdrop on their conversation or maybe help convince Ichigo to take Shinji's offer because she was only a shoulder to lean on, but she was not a Visored. As much as she wanted to help him with the problems he was having with his inner hollow, she couldn't physically help him. Shinji and the others were his only option. He wouldn't have to go through the humiliation that awaits him if he just takes the offer sooner than later.

She glanced around the school grounds as she got outside the school.

"Damn, I wasn't that far behind them. They move fast," she mumbled, deciding to search for their reiatsu.

She made her way over to where they were, she blinked when she heard Ichigo's voice. She frowned, noticing how high up they were.

"Come on," Shigeru sighed.

She was preparing to jump up to the two when Tatsuki appeared.

"Shigeru…," she called quietly.

Shigeru turned to face her concerned friend. She waved nervously, "Oh, hey Tatsuki...what're you doing here?"

The other girl crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at Shigeru, "What's going on, Shigeru?"

"An early morning walk before class?"

Tatsuki frowned, pointing up to the arguing men above, "I'm talking about that. Why is Ichigo and the weird new kid up there?"

"Uh, Ichigo's defending my honor?"

"Like you need help with that," Tatsuki scoffed.

Shigeru tried to change the subject as she laughed, "I'm sure it's just boys being boy, ya know! Maybe we should head back to class―"

"Stop beating around the bush! I know that something weird is going on with you and Ichigo! All of you! You, Orihime, Chad, Uryuu! You're all hiding something," Tatsuki pressed angrily.

Shigeru shut her mouth as the girl continued to get everything off her chest.

"I've seen you and Ichigo in those black robes carrying around those swords! During the summer I could feel your presence, but it felt far away like there was a wall between us! Now, Shigeru, please just tell me the truth and explain what's going on with you guys...please," Tatsuki pleaded.

Shigeru hated seeing Tatsuki this worked up. She looked like she was holding back tears of frustration. She sighed before pulling Tatsuki to the side of the building and sat on the ground. Tatsuki seemed confused, until Shigeru patted the ground next to her.

"Sit. I'll explain as much as I can for you," Shigeru ordered as she pulled Tatsuki down to the ground next to her.

Tatsuki listened patiently as Shigeru explained everything to her. The shinigami, the hollows, everyone's abilities, what they were doing during summer break, and the reason why she could suddenly see spirits.

"So Ichigo's, uh, spiritual power can unlock abilities in others because they're so powerful and Rukia was actually a shinigami. That's why everyone suddenly forgot her...," Tatsuki reaffirmed out loud.

"Yep! You aren't the only one either. I'm pretty sure Keigo is becoming aware of the supernatural," Shigeru nodded her head.

Tatsuki looked down at the ground, pulling her knees to her chest, mulling over the information.

"...Are you sure you guys will be alright," she asked quietly.

Shigeru leaned her head on the wall behind her, watching the clouds slowly drift by in the sky. There's going to be a lot of hardships ahead, they were going to be in countless life and death situations, and they would be getting injured all the time, but there was no need to lie to Tatsuki.

Shigeru smiled, "Yeah, we're going to be just fine. Everyone will be."

"I have one more question…," the other girl faced Shigeru.

Shigeru nodded, waiting for her to put her question together. Her brown eyes saddened suddenly as she leaned on her knee.

She slowly asked, "Why hasn't Ichigo or the rest of the gang come clean to us? We aren't blind, but I thought that at least Orihime would let me know…"

Shigeru wrapped an arm around Tatsuki's shoulder, pulling her closer to her.

"You've known Ichigo longer than anyone, Tatsuki. I think you can already guess how his mind works. I'm not saying he's right for keeping all this from the rest of you. We're all guilty of doing that, but...ignorance can be bliss. It was to protect you guys, but I'm sorry for making you feel helpless," Shigeru expressed as the bell rang, signalling the two that it was time for the next class.

The two stood up and dusted themselves off. Shigeru placed her hands on Tatsuki's shoulders to look her straight in the eyes.

"I can't speak for Ichigo, or the others, but they will explain themselves to you when they're ready, but until then...you and me have no secrets, okay," she tilted her head as she offered her a small smile.

Tatsuki smiled back as she lightly gripped Shigeru's hands.

"Yeah…"

Shigeru stretched, "Good! Now let's head back to class or else Ochi-sensei might come looking for us."

They walked back to the classroom.

Tatsuki grinned, "_Shigeru, I'm glad we're friends…_"

The days went by with no real interruptions, not even a hollow sighting, though Ichigo was being extremely moody. Once school was over everyone gathered their things.

Tatsuki quickly asked, "You think you can stop by the club today, Shigeru?"

"Sorry, I'm busy today," Shigeru answered truthfully.

She heard Keigo ask Ichigo to hang out, but he promptly turned her down before she walked out the classroom.

Tatsuki glanced over to Shigeru and pointed her chin in the direction of the departed teen.

"You gonna handle that?"

Shigeru sighed as she slung her bag over her shoulder, "I guess so. Why is he always so angsty?"

"It's a part of his so-called 'cool guy' image," Tatsuki giggled.

Shigeru shook her head, "Just who is he trying to fool?"

Tatsuki laughed before waving her goodbye, heading straight to the karate club.

Shigeru ran after her favorite orange-haired companion, quickly catching up with him. He didn't spare her a glance.

"I want to be alone, Shigeru," Ichigo frowned as he kept his eyes ahead of him.

Shigeru placed her bag behind her back as she walked next to him, "Well too damn bad. You got me!"

His frown deepened, but he kept walking, "Whatever..."

The girl rolled her eyes and grabbed him by his arm gently. They stopped walking, as the other students passed them by.

"Accept the offer…"

Ichigo turned to face Shigeru, "What?"

"Shinji's offer. Accept it," she advised seriously.

Ichigo offered a weak glare, "I don't need that weirdos help…"

She pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling her blood pressure rising, due to his stubbornness.

"_Well, that's what he's known for_," she sighed.

She brought both of her hands together as she pointed them at his chest, "Listen...he's a Visored, and he can help you with this problem with your inner hollow―"

"Can't you help me with that. I trust you," he interrupted with a pleading expression.

She shook her head, "I'm not like you or them, Ichigo. They can help you with the specifics of your condition. I don't think I can…"

Ichigo shook his head in defiance and firmly said, "No."

"You know, despite what you may think...your inner hollow isn't actually trying to kill you per se...it's more like he's testing you. Seriously, Ichigo...please consider the offer he's given you," Shigeru tried to persuade him.

They continued on their way in silence until they had to go separate ways to go to their respective homes. Shigeru decided to respect his decision to be alone, hoping he would take the time to consider what she had told him. Yes, Shinji across as shady the way he approached Ichigo, but he and the other Visored had his best interest in mind...sort of. If Ichigo really trusted her and her judgement, then he'll at least listen to her opinion about this.

"I'm going to need to go for a run," she frowned as she entered her apartment complex.

She dropped her bag and quickly changed into a tank top, sports bra, and leggings, stepping right back out of her home, running her usual route around the city.

She'd gotten into the habit of jogging or running when she had a lot on her mind, mainly when she started thinking about her previous life or when she was trying to come up with possible contingency plans for future events, and that's if they go according to plot.

She stopped dead in her tracks when powerful, heavy reiatsu pounded down on the city, an explosion ringing throughout the town.

"They're here…," she narrowed her eyes, as she pulled out her soul candy.

She turned in the direction where the violent reiatsu of the arrancar's were pulsing. It was across town. She frowned as she saw the souls of the people in that area being pulled into the area.

Shigeru swallowed a pill, ejecting herself from her body. She pulled her swords out and immediately released her shikai.

"Go back home and stay there," she ordered her gikon.

It nodded, jogging back in the direction of her apartment. Shigeru flew into the air and made her away to where Yammy and Ulquiorra were reeking havoc.

Shigeru crossed her tonfas in front of her.

"Bankai!"

Lightning and flames engulfed Karakura's sky, unnoticed to those without sight.

* * *

_In the Park _

It was bloody madness. Dead bodies were scattered around the normally bustling park, surrounding the giant crater created by Yammy and Ulquiorra on their dynamic entry. The unconscious Tatsuki laid on the ground a little away from the battle going on. Chad, arm split in half, was engulfed in Soten Kishun orange glow in the hopes of saving his arm. Orihime, face bloodied, laid limply on the ground as Ichigo was getting smacked around by the hulking Espada with one arm. The unmoving Ulquiorra watched on silently, taking in every detail of the world around him.

The Cero Espada lifted his heavy fist above him in the air, cackling jovially, "Goodbye, flea! I'm gonna squash you!"

Ichigo didn't have the strength to avoid the blow, his inner hollow hindering him. His consciousness was fading, frustrated with his weakness. Two figures flashed in front of him, blocking the teen from damage, a red shield protecting them all.

"Hello," a chirpy voice rang.

Ichigo focused his eyes to see his saviors. Yammy took a step back in confusion as the red shield shattered, revealing Kisuke and Yoruichi.

Kisuke grinned, "Sorry for being late, Ichigo!"

Yammy glared down at the newcomers.

"What now?! These bugs keep coming out of nowhere," he scoffed, more annoyed than upset.

Kisuke grinned as the monster ranted on, preparing an attack.

"By butting in… you're just asking to get killed, right?!"

Before Yammy knew it, he was flipping into the ground by the unamused Yoruichi.

His eyes widened from the shock, "What?"

He pounded his fist into the ground as he stood once again, yelling in anger, "You little cockroach!"

The two shinigami ignored him, as Kisuke passed Yoruichi medicine to give to Orihime. She walked off, but Yammy reached out for the smaller, darker woman. Yoruichi jumped off the monster's outstretched hand, kicking him in the face, stunning him. She flipped into the air, leg raised before she slammed into his head. The force of the kick shaking the ground.

Yammy was face first in the ground unmoving. Ulquiorra made no move to help the other Espada while Kisuke tended to Ichigo.

Yoruichi continued on to give Orihime the medicine, as she cradled the girl. The bloodied monster hopped up yelling, his teeth cracked and broken from the kick to his face. His eyes bloodshot as he glared down at the ex-captain with an unbridled rage.

"Don't you ever give up," Yoruichi asked the man coolly.

Yammy raged on, "You're dead! You're dead!"

He opened his mouth, a scarlet red cero charging.

Yoruichi gasped as she held Orihime closer to her, "_I can't avoid it…!_"

Suddenly, a flash of white and black flickered between the two girls and arrancar.

Shigeru glared up at the hulking Espada with her multicolored eyes.

His eyes widened from shock, "_W-Who?!_"

"Shut up, Yammy," she said calmly.

She swiftly closed the distance between them, thrusting the palm of her hand upward, forcing the man to swallow the charging doom blast. He stumbled backward, grabbing his smoking mouth with his lone hand, as he glared down at the girl.

Shigeru's tail and ears twitched dangerously as she glanced around at her friend's conditions. She looked down at the bloodied Orihime and Chad's severed arm a new form of rage radiated from her being.

"Why do all you insects keep flying by," Yammy yelled as he prepared another attack.

Shigeru's body fizzled with purple as she uppercutted the man, as he wailed as the electricity stunned his body.

"Ryu no Mai: Ikari," she growled as her hands engulfed in blue flames.

Shigeru pummeled the thick skinned Espada with newfound speed, leaving angry burns scattered across his body. His body trembled from the aftershock of his attacks. Shigeru's flame engulfed leg sent him flying across the field. He struggled to get to his feet.

"_So tenacious_," she frowned at the man, as she felt a sting in her knuckles.

Yammy huffed as he glared at the girl. She could practically see the stream rising from his ears as his anger reached new heights.

Yammy yelled, "You little bitch! I'll destroy you! You hear me!"

Shigeru smirked at the bulky man condescendingly, "Really? From where I'm standing I'll be the one to destroy you today. It'll save us some future trouble…"

She clenched her fist as it charged with her signature attack before punching forward. An unavoidable blast of fire and lightning rocketed toward the hollow. Ulquiorra finally decided to intervene, swiping his hand through the blast, blocking it.

"_Like knew you would_," Shigeru grinned as she shunpo-ed in front of the apathetic green-eyed arrancar.

Ulquiorra's eyes widened a fraction as Shigeru reached for the pale-skinned man's neck, but he was quicker. He grabbed her wrist, intending to fling her to the side, however Shigeru hooked her legs around his arm, intending to use her body weight to drag him down with her. Ulquiorra took wind to that, taking his other hand out of his pocket preparing a green cero releasing it point at the girl's head.

"Shigeru," Ichigo yelled in a panic as dust filled the air.

Ulquiorra's eyes widened when he saw that she was unscratched.

"_She was able to take a point-blank cero with no damage. This woman... is different from the other trash_," he analyzed the women clinging to his arm.

Shigeru's grin widely revealing her fangs as she sized the Cuatro Espada up.

"Hmm, nice to know I can take a cero in this form," she laughed as she aimed the blade of her free forearm at the arrancar.

Ulquiorra lifted Shigeru into the air, throwing her off balance.

"Oh shit!"

He flung her off of his arm, away from the two Espada. She slid to a stop, her clawed feet digging into the ground to slow her momentum.

Yammy blinked down at the smaller arrancar and nervously said, "U-Ulquiorra?"

Ulquiorra slammed his hand into his stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. Yoruichi and Kisuke's eyes widened as the man attacked his own comrade. Shigeru observed the two calmly.

"Get a hold of yourself, Yammy," he looked down at his comrade with no real emotion.

He snapped his fingers, opening a Garganta.

The pale Espada stepped in front of the opening to their realm, "Get up. We're leaving."

Yoruichi stepped forward, "Running away?"

"Watch what you say...you know very well what would happen if you tried to fight me while trying to protect those pieces of trash," Ulquiorra regarded the woman coldly.

Yammy got to his feet entering Garganta, Ulquiorra not far behind him.

"We've achieved our immediate objective…"

He looked past the two ex-shinigami to Ichigo.

"I'll tell Lord Aizen...that the so-called shinigami he's had his eye on...is _trash_ not even worth killing," he declared.

Shigeru turned to peer over to Ichigo, as he huffed on the ground splattered with his blood. She frowned sadly as she made her way over to him.

As the opening closed, Ulquiorra sparred Shigeru one last glance.

* * *

_Back at Urahara's_

Every able bodied person helped carry the injured back to Kisuke's. They placed Chad in one room as Orihime's Soten Kisshun was still working on his arm. Orihime was all bandaged up as she laid on the futon in her own room. Her arm was broken, and her face was banged up from Yammy's attack. Ichigo's head was wrapped up from the injuries he sustained to his head.

Kisuke stood by the door as Shigeru and Ichigo talked to their usually cheery friend.

Shigeru sat on the ground beside her. The brown-skinned teen's arms sported some heavy bruising. The heirro of Yammy was much tougher than she expected, but thankfully her armor absorbed most of the damage.

Orihime put on a brave face as she looked up to Ichigo, "I'm fine. I should've stayed back like you told me. It's my own fault I got hurt...so don't look like that. It wasn't your fault…"

Ichigo's guilt was written all over his face. Shigeru brushed Orihime's hair out of her face and she hushed her.

"It was not your fault, Orihime. You did great," Shigeru offered her a small smile.

Orihime opened her mouth but Shigeru pressed her finger to her lips, signalling her not to speak.

She gently patted the orange-hair girl on her head, "You think too little of yourself, Orihime. You're way stronger than you think, and I need for you to realize that. Alright?"

Orihime was fighting back tears as she nodded.

"We'll leave so you can rest," Shigeru smiled before standing up.

She guided Ichigo out of the room with her. Kisuke glanced at Shigeru and she shook her head.

"_I got this_," she conveyed mentally.

Kisuke nodded leaving the two to give them some privacy. Ichigo didn't say anything as Shigeru held his hand leading him to the back of the shop.

"Ichigo, look at me…," she demanded softly.

He avoided her gaze, before she cupped his chin to force him to look at her.

Shigeru sighed, "I know what you're thinking, so stop."

"I'm weak…," he whispered sullenly.

She sighed through her nose, "Ichigo… you are_ not_ weak! But you need to realize that there will always be people or beings that will be stronger."

"Everyone could have died because I couldn't protect them," he protested loudly, clenching his fist as he closed his eyes.

"Ichigo―"

"No, Shigeru! You're stronger than me! I can tell that you're always holding back," Ichigo yelled for the first time that evening.

Shigeru gripped the back of his head to bring his head down. Their foreheads touched, forcing the boy to look her in the eyes. His eyes widened and his body tensed up.

"Then train... and get the inner hollow of yours under control! Accept Shinji's offer, Ichigo! Then you won't feel this helpless or this guilty over something out of your control," Shigeru proclaimed as she watched his brown eyes for an emotion other than sadness.

She released him as his frown deepened.

"I...I don't...I just don't trust him," he struggled to convey.

Shigeru's shoulders dropped, "_Must you always learn the hard way…?_"

She pulled Ichigo into a hug, rubbing circles on his back as he leaned his weight onto her. Ichigo had to admit that Shigeru's hugs had such a calming effect on him. It was her warmth. It was always so inviting and loving. She was one of the only people she could truly be vulnerable with. He wrapped his arms loosely around her.

"_...I trust you, Shigeru, I really do, but I need to figure this out myself,_" he declared to himself, as blackness slowly seethe around his eyeball.

**Author's Note: First off, I'm excited for Grimmjow next chapter! Shigeru is trying her best to gain control over this Reiryoku/Reiatsu absorption, and she's determined to get it in check. I'm still trying to think of ways for her to bond with the others in the group, particularly Chad and Uryuu, while giving Ichigo some space. Hopefully, guilt doesn't eat away at him. Well, anyway...Hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for what comes next. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Hello! How's everyone doing?! The city that I live in has extended the quarantine period due to the pandemic another month. I'll be honest, I haven't really left my house since the middle of March (T^T). I'm a homebody, but I miss going to the mall or downtown! However, my sanity isn't cracking just yet haha. Now onward to the new chapter! Enjoy!**

Chapter 14: Enter the Blue Badass!

_5 Days Later_

Shigeru sat at her desk, deep in thought as she pulled at the sleeves of her yellow school issued sweater, so they properly covered her healing arms. The previously dark bruises slowly cleared up on her smooth brown skin. Luckily, her long socks covered her bruised leg. She opted to ditch gym class as they healed, not wanting to be questioned by her fellow female classmates.

She stood up and opened the window in the back of the classroom. The sweater she was wearing was making her too warm for comfort. The cool breeze flooded into the room, lightly blowing her curls as she rested her arms on the ledge, leaning out the window watching the students walk about.

Shigeru was the only one to come to school during the last few days. Everyone else was healing from their injuries. Tatsuki seemed extremely down during these days, and Shigeru tried her best to cheer her up, making sure to make her lunch, and stopping by the karate club after school so they could spar to blow off steam. She'd stop by Kisuke's to check on Chad and Orihime before she went to train.

Chad's arm was still mending, so she offered to get him anything like snacks, books, anything to help him feel better. He thanked Shigeru, but insisted that he didn't need anything, so instead Shigeru asked him to tell her about his time living in Mexico when he was a child to pass the time as he healed.

Orihime would pretend to be okay, forcing a smile as she rambled to Shigeru. The injuries to her face healed rather quickly, but her arm still needed time. Shigeru frowned at that, finally telling Orihime that it was okay to just cry.

"_You don't have to pretend that you're okay, Orihime," she told the girl quietly._

Her training with Yoruichi was placed on hold as her arm and leg were healing from the blows she inflicted on Yammy. Though her mentor informed her that she's pretty much had a good handle of the techniques, so it was alright to miss out on lessons.

Tessai gave her a couple of more lessons before declaring that she was ready to use kido in battle if she deemed it necessary. No more spells blowing up in her face.

Her training with Kisuke went on as normal as she worked on her energy cubes. She was more focused than ever, a newfound vigor. Her concentration had improved and the rate in which she could absorb the energy within the cubes did as well, but she was still having a difficult time releasing the energy. Something in her wanted to force the adaptation whether her body could handle it or not.

Shigeru didn't notice Ichigo enter the classroom, but he quickly busied himself wallowing in his own self-pity and guilt.

Orihime entered the classroom, and Chizuru lost it when she saw her condition.

"I fell down the stairs," Orihime laughed nervously.

Chizuru called bullshit, "Like hell you did! What really happened?!"

Shigeru perked up when she sensed the reiatsu of some very familiar people enter the school, grinning as she turned to see Orihime excuse herself, running out of the class. She walked over to the chest-fallen Ichigo, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Seriously...stop wallowing. Everything will be okay. I'm not going to tell you this again," she sighed, before looking into his sullen brown eyes.

"But-"

The classroom door slammed open revealing some of her favorite people.

Renji greeted the two teens, "Yo! Ichigo, Shigeru, how you been?"

Shigeru ran over to the group and jumped into Renji's arms, giving him a quick hug.

"Renji, what's up, man!"

Shigeru looked down at the snowy haired captain beside her. She rustled his hair.

"Hi, Toshiro!"

The young captain slapped her hand away, "That's Captain Hitsugaya to you!"

"Yeah, I'm not calling you that," she laughed, turning her attention to the grinning Ikkaku and Yumichika.

Ikkaku adjusted the wooden sword on his shoulders as he grinned, "Nice to see you're still the same, Shigeru!"

"I'll never change," Shigeru laughed as she shrugged her shoulders.

Ichigo was in the back whipping his head between the faces of the shinigami that should not be in the city in confusion.

"What are you guys doing here," he asked Renji.

The tattooed man scoffed, "Why do you think? We're on a mission!"

"What mission," he questioned in confusion as his eyes flickered to Shigeru.

Her face grave, "They're here to help prepare for the battle against the arrancars."

"Arran-Who?"

She face palmed as a voice called from the window, "The people from the other day, idiot!"

They all turned to the window to see Rukia standing on the ledge. She grinned at the two substitute shinigami.

Shigeru grinned, while Ichigo gaped in surprise, "Rukia!"

Rukia quickly took in Ichigo's sorry appearance. She flew over to the boy, kicking him in the face. Ichigo went tumbling into Renji's grip.

"What the hell are you doing," he yelled as Renji held him in place.

Rukia then slapped him a couple of times. Shigeru glanced away, finding a particular light fixture interesting all of a sudden. Next thing she knew Rukia snatched Ichigo by his bright orange hair and jumped out the window she previously entered.

Renji nudged Shigeru as he held the limp Ichigo in his arms, "You not going with?"

"I said my peace to him already. Rukia can handle all that since he won't listen to me," she waved him off nonchalantly.

"Um...Shigeru," one of her other classmates called nervously.

She blinked and looked over to her nervous classmates.

One of the boys pointed to the strange group behind her.

"Are these guys, um, friends of yours?"

Shigeru sweat-dropped and laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her head, "Haha, uh, something like that!"

Another one of her classmates took in Ichigo's appearance, "Is that the white of his eyes…?"

Her classmates started to knit-pick at all of their appearances. Some repeatedly called Ikkaku "baldy" which pissed him off.

Shigeru threw her arms over the man and Renji's shoulders right when he was going to attack.

"Come on, _friends_! Let's get, idiot―I mean, Ichigo to the nurses office," she grinned escorting the group out of the classroom.

Ikkaku still prattled angrily as they left. Shigeru giggled as she could see Toshiro's blood pressure slowly rising.

Once they were completely out of sight the class exchanged glances.

"Shigeru and Ichigo sure know some strange people…"

As they walked down the hall, Shigeru laughed at the 11th squad's third seat.

"You can't blame them! You all stand out like a sore thumb," she laughed as she dragged Ichigo's body by his collar.

Rangiku pouted, "I thought we blended in pretty well!"

"No, you do _no_t!"

Shigeru stopped, forcing them to stop as well as she pointed out their features.

She pointed to Renji, "Minors can't get tattoos."

He rubbed his tattoos, that he wasn't doing a good job covering.

Points to Ikkaku, "You just look like the grown man that you are."

The bald man kicked the dust on the floor.

Points to Yumichika, "Your flamboyant accessories look strange to normal teenagers."

He gasped pulling out a mirror to look at his face.

Points to Rangiku, "Wayyy too mature looking! Plus, boobs. Please get a bigger shirt, Rangiku!"

She shrugged, striking a sexy pose.

Finally she pointed to Toshiro and starred for a few moments. His frown deepened.

"What?"

"You ...just look like a middle-schooler," Shigeru sighed as she continued to drag the soulless Ichigo away.

Toshiro's vein throbbed on his head as he crossed his arms grumbling, "I do not…"

"Keep telling yourself that," she called over her shoulder happily.

They continued to follow their favorite substitute shinigami.

Toshiro grumbled as he all but pouted, "Such insolence…"

* * *

_After School, Ichigo's Room_

They all crowded Ichigo's bedroom as they explained to Ichigo what an arrancar was. Shigeru pulled off her yellow sweater and tossed it on the desk chair she commandeered. She was still feeling very warm as she unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse.

Rukia pulled out her handy dandy sketch book as she and Renji explained what they were. Shigeru chuckled.

"Man, I've missed her doing that," she laughed.

Ichigo frowned, "Please, don't encourage her!"

Rukia tossed her sketchbook at the boy, knocking him in the face. As Renji rambled on about the reason why each one of the shinigami in the room was chosen, Shigeru's mind wandered to her current condition. While fighting the two Espada a few days ago, she unconsciously took in a little of their reiryoku, particularly Ulquiorra as he actually grabbed her, making it easier to absorb his energy. Something about a hollow's―rather an arrancar's reiatsu wasn't settling well with her system. She'd been releasing the energy, bit by bit over the last few days thanks to her training with Kisuke. She wasn't nearly as feverish as she could have been, but she was hotter than normal, sweating just a little. Not to mention she was getting a raging headache as the day went on, though she's been taking aspirin throughout the day to get rid of it.

Shigeru tuned back when she heard Toshiro speak.

"Aizen definitely has his eyes on you Ichigo Kurosaki," the silver-haired boy declared as he leaned on Ichigo windowsill.

Shigeru laughed when Rangiku and Renji suggested that the small captain was just waiting for the right moment for a cool entry, which Shigeru agreed.

"_I need a fan or something to cool me down,_" Shigeru complained as she pulled the rest of her hair into a ponytail as he explained the power levels of the Menos to the Vasto Lordes.

Toshiro gravely informed the group, "If Aizen has ten or more of these Vasto Lordes under his command...the Soul Society is doomed…"

Shigeru leaned back and fanned herself with her hand as the rest in the room went silent at the notion, tension filling the small room.

* * *

_Hueco Mundo_

Yammy and Ulquiorra slowly walked into the dimly lit room, their footsteps echoing throughout the area. The two stopped in the center of the room. Yammy kneeled on knee as Ulquiorra regarded their leader.

"We have returned...Lord Aizen," the emerald eyed Espada informed.

Aizen sat on his throne, smirking down at his two soldiers.

In his hypnotic voice he greeted the two, "Welcome back, Ulquiorra...Yammy. Now, tell your _20 _brothers what you've learned."

The silhouette's of the many arrancar and Espada rustled within the darkness of the meeting room.

"Go ahead Ulquiorra, show us what you saw and felt in the World of the Living," Aizen urged on calmly.

The emotionless arrancar slowly grabbed his eye, "As you wish."

Ulquiorra pulled his eyeball out of his skull, crushing it in his hand. The eye shattered into dust that filled the room.

"Please look carefully," he advised, blandly.

All there closed their eyes letting the images of Orihime and Ichigo using their abilities flash throughout their minds. As well as the two ex-captains that came to their aid. Even the sudden appearance of Shigeru clad in her bankai. Everyone in the room felt what little emotion Ulquiorra could feel during his assessment of the people in their minds.

An image of a bloodied Ichigo, kneeling on the ground flashed in their minds.

Aizen leaned back in his throne, his eyes closed as he mused, "I see, that's why you decided he wasn't worth killing..."

The other's slowly began to open their eyes as Ulquiorra further explained his decision.

"Yes sir, as our orders were to 'kill him if it seemed as though he might become an interference to us.' Also―," he started.

"That's weak!"

Ulquiorra turned his attention to the sky blue-haired arrancar behind him, his legs crossed as he leaned his hollow mask clad jaw unto his hand.

"If it were me, I would have killed them all with one attack," he declared cockily, as his fracciones surrounded him.

Ulquiorra turned to face his brethren, "Grimmjow…"

Grimmjow continued, "If your orders have the phrase 'kill him' in them I'm pretty damn sure it's best if you kill him! _Right_?!"

"I agree," the one next to him agreed, "He is an enemy. Even if there's no value in killing him, there certainly isn't any value in letting him live."

Grimmjow turned to glare at the other Espada that was assigned the same mission, "And Yammy! Look at yourself! You're so beat up!"

Yammy frowned at the Sexta Espada as he continued to yell.

"You might be saying 'there was no value in killing him,' but all I'm hearing is 'I couldn't kill him,'" Grimmjow growled, disapprovingly.

The hulking arrancar glared at the other, "Hey, Grimmjow didn't you just see? I was beaten by those two dark skinned girls,_ not_ the boy."

"_You_ really don't get it! I said I would have killed them _all _in a single attack," Grimmjow argued, not wanting to hear the excuses he was given.

Yammy stood to his feet annoyed, "What?!"

Ulquiorra finally spoke up, stopping his companion from attacking the other, "Even the woman who took_ my_ cero as if it were nothing?"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at the smaller, calmer man spoke, "Grimmjow, you _do_ understand the problem isn't the kid, right? What Lord Aizen is observing is not that kid's current state. It's that kid's growth. It's true that his potential strength is high, but it is too unstable. From what I gathered he might just destroy himself or become one of our pawns. _That's _why I let him live."

Grimmjow snarled at the other, "That's what I'm saying is weak! What if he becomes stronger than what you've calculated, and he ends up getting in our way, what then?"

Ulquiorra looked Grimmjow dead in his eyes.

"If that happens then I'll finish him off. I see you have no complaints with that," he said matter-a-factly.

Grimmjow stayed silent at his response.

Aizen interjected, "Apart from what your brothers say. I'm impressed by your work, Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra bowed to his leader, "Thank you, Lord Aizen."

Grimmjow frowned disapprovingly on the sidelines. Aizen dismissed the Arrancars from his presence. The Sexta Espada walked away with his men in tow, formulating his own plans to deal with the shinigami grinning widely as it started to come together.

* * *

_Back at Ichigo's_

Shigeru spun around in small circles at Ichigo's desk as the meeting came to a close. Renji and Rangiku took a strong interest in Kon and how he worked. She scrunched her face in disgust as Renji shoved his hand down the plushie's throat.

"Gross," she whined as he pulled out the small green pill from its body.

Ichigo sighed, "When are you guys leaving?"

"Not until the arrancar threat is over. That's the soonest we'd be able to return home," Renji shrugged as Kon threw a fit in his arms.

Ichigo frowned, "Well there's no way you're all staying with me. There's not enough room."

"Sure isn't," Shigeru chimed in as she continued to spin in the chair.

Ichigo glanced over to her, "You don't even live here!"

"I'm here so much your dad could basically claim me as a dependent if he wanted," Shigeru scoffed, but stopped spinning feeling dizzy.

Ichigo tilted his head in agreement, "True enough...but for the rest of you, it's a no!"

"Even me," Rangiku complained.

Ichigo backed away, "Especially you!"

Rangiku started to unbutton her top. Shigeru promptly tossed a pillow at the woman.

"Stop that," she yelled at her inappropriate behavior.

Rangiku then tried lifting up her skirt to give the boy a peak. Ichigo screamed covering his eyes.

"I will not give into temptation," he claimed as he peaked with one eye.

Rukia and Shigeru glanced at each other before Shigeru slapped the boy over the head.

The shinigami were walked out of the house by the group.

Rangiku slung her bag over her shoulder, "I'll just stay with Orihime!"

"Yo! Can we crash at your place," Ikkaku asked, turning to Shigeru.

Shigeru faked a gasped, "My bachelorette pad?! Not a chance!"

Ikkaku and Yumichika laughed, "Didn't hurt to ask? See you later, Sleepy Goddess!"

Shigeru sweat-dropped as she yelled after them, "Don't call me that, Baldy!"

Renji placed his hands in his pocket as he turned to walk away from the group.

"I'll just crash at Kisuke's," he declared before eyeing Rukia who just blinked at him.

Rukia waved him off happily, "You be safe now!"

Shigeru stepped between Ichigo and Rukia, slinging her arms around them for a hug.

"Awww, look at us! The original trio back together again," she grinned widely, swaying back and forth.

Ichigo tried to get out of her grip as he looked at Rukia, "Just where do you think you're staying?"

Shigeru stopped swaying. She and Rukia exchanged a knowing glance. Shigeru released Rukia, pulling Ichigo into a headlock.

"Go! Go! Go," she laughed maniacally as Rukia darted for Kurosaki's entrance.

Ichigo thrashed around in Shigeru's grip, "Wait! Rukia!"

"This is the only place for me," the smaller woman yelled as she kicked her shoes off in the entryway.

Ichigo tossed Shigeru to the side, "No!"

Ichigo and Shigeru ran into the house after the smaller woman. Rukia gave Isshin and Yuzu some sob story to gain their trust. The two agreed to house the woman while she stayed in the human world. Karin looked at Rukia highly suspicious.

Shigeru patted her on the head and whispered, "It's okay. She's cool."

Karin sighed and nodded.

"Alright, I'm off," Shigeru announced before grabbing her things from Ichigo's room.

Ichigo and Rukia weren't that far behind her. She grabbed her sweater and her schoolbag. Shigeru placed a hand to her temple as she felt a spike of pain.

"_Why is my head hurting so much…_," she frowned before she tied the sweater around her waist.

Rukia placed a hand on Shigeru's shoulder in concern, "You're looking a little pale. Are you feeling alright?"

Shigeru quickly assumed that the headache was due to the side-effects of her abilities. She grinned at her.

"I'll be fine. I just need rest is all," she waved them off as she left the room.

She got home without much trouble, quickly changing into some light pajamas. Sleep has definitely been helping her these last few days as she filtered out the strange energy from the Espada.

Her head hit the pillow as she closed her eyes she tried to ignore the pain in her head.

"_Please go away before they get here,_" she pleaded with her throbbing head.

* * *

_Elsewhere_

A garganta silently opened in the sky, revealing the grinning face of Grimmjow. He scanned the town bustling with humans with his blue eyes. Those with notable reiatsu going about their lives not noticing his presence. He landed on a rooftop of a random building, sitting down.

Grimmjow's mind wandered to the images of Shigeru and her bankai form.

"_That woman was particularly strange… Ulquiorra didn't offer much of an opinion of her despite his interest,_" he pondered as he leaned an arm on his knee.

Grimmjow grinned madly to himself.

"_I'll kill her first_."

He waited patiently for his fracciones to arrive so that they could begin their assault. After an hour or two, with the moon high in the sky his followers appeared.

He rose from his spot, "About time! I assume no one was detected?"

Shawlong quickly reassured him that they weren't.

Grimmjow looked at his men and ordered, "If they show even the smallest bit of reiatsu...kill them! Kill them all!"

They all used their pesquisa to locate all the shinigami, spiritually aware humans, and substitute shinigamis' locations. Grimmjow grinned as they were all accounted for.

"Great, now...don't let a single one of them escape," he ordered his men as they scattered.

All shinigami in the area's eyes widened at the sudden released reiatsu of the arrancars pounded on the city below.

Shigeru's eyes flew open as she hopped out of her bed.

"_They're here…_," she gasped.

She cussed as she rummaged for her glove. Shigeru quickly expelled her soul from her body, searching for the closest reiatsu signature to her besides Ichigo and Rukia.

She whispered, "Chad…"

Shigeru hopped out of her window jetting toward the boy's home.

* * *

_Near Chad's Home_

DiRoy was seconds away from killing Chad before Ichigo grabbed the arrancar by his wrist. Ichigo ordered Chad to run away. Despite Chad trying to convince his friend otherwise, he ran away as commanded, running past Rukia not even sparing her a glance.

Shigeru was the boy from above.

She quickly descended, "Looks like Ichigo beat me to it for once," Shigeru called out, "Chad!"

The taller teen ignored her and continued to run right past her.

"You did _not_ just ignore me," she frowned, shunpo-ing in front of him.

She placed her arm on his chest, forcing him to stop in his tracks as she used hakuda to strengthen her body.

She glared up to her friend, "Yasutora Sado, I _know_ you heard me talking to you!"

Chad huffed as he caught his breath from all the sprinting he just performed. Shigeru could tell that he was extremely upset.

"Please, take a deep breath and calm down...What's got you so riled up," she calmly demanded as she released the boy.

He did as he was instructed, taking slow deep breaths, effectively calming himself down. Chad glanced down at Shigeru somewhat dejectedly.

"Ichigo…," he muttered.

Shigeru frowned as she remembered what Ichigo did to Chad during this time. She got on her toes as she cupped the taller boy's face, so that she could see his sad brown eyes.

"Listen to me, you guys need to stop taking everything that Ichigo says to heart. You can still fight with Ichigo side-by-side! You are _not_ a burden! All of you are getting stronger at your own rate. Ichigo is just a little ahead of the curve. You are still his equal. You understand me," Shigeru affirmed to the teen trying not to let her anger show.

Ichigo on his quest to prove himself worthy of being the protector of everything has hurt one of his dear friends feelings and bruised his pride. Chad's eyes widened at Shigeru's words, as he nodded.

Shigeru smiled,"Good...now I'll be having a serious talk with Ichigo about his martyrdom later. You hang low, okay?"

"Okay," Chad nodded as Shigeru released his face.

Her gaze followed the path in the direction he came from. She could sense Rukia in the thick of things with her battle with DiRoy. She narrowed her eyes thinking of the lecture she was going to give Ichigo soon as she felt a headache coming back.

"I'll go help them," she smiled at Chad before heading toward the two.

He nodded before running off again to find somewhere to hang low as Shigeru instructed.

Shigeru shunpo-ed over to the other two, seeing Chappy pinning Ichigo to the ground. It looked like the gikon was going to rip the boys arm off. Shigeru silently released her zanpakuto, twirling them into its tonfa form.

She glared in his direction, "_Good! Serves him right!_"

The orange-haired idiot noticed her presence as she walked up next to them. Before he could say anything Rukia walked back over to them.

"Rukia! Are you alright? What about the other guy?! You defeated him," he asked frantically from his spot on the ground.

Rukia scoffed, "Of course. What would be the point of being back here if I didn't?"

Ichigo took notice of her Sode no Shirayuki, and Chappy explained to him her master's strength as well as her beautiful zanpakuto. Shigeru smiled a little after hearing just how protective Byakuya had always been as an older brother, though she did think it could have hindered Rukia's potential and growth to stop her from being a true seated officer because of the high risk factor that came with the job.

"_Byakuya is such a cute big brother,_" she laughed, but then her eyes widened as a feral reiatsu pounded down on them.

"What's this? DiRoy's killers still here and waiting around?"

The hairs on the back of her next rising, as she slowly looked up into the sky. She gasped quietly to herself as she looked at Grimmjow's gorgeous form. The arrancar was her all time favorite anime character, and he was hotter in person. That swept back blue hair, the rippling abs and muscles, those stunning blue eyes! Shigeru had to stop herself from drooling.

She shook her head, "_Now's not the time to fangirl, Shigeru!_"

The Sexta Espada mocked the group, "You won't get out of this! I'll kill you all!"

"_Man, I just got here! I did nothing_," Shigeru pouted eternally as she gripped her tonfas, extending their chains.

The blue-haired menace grinned down at the group, "Now, which of you is the strongest?!"

Rukia and Ichigo were frozen by the sudden appearance of the Espada. Shigeru glanced back at their opponent accidentally locking eyes. She noticed his grin widen as he noticed her, descending to the ground ahead of them.

Rukia panicked and turned to yell, "Fall back now, Ichigo!"

Shigeru noticed the arrancar flicker out of sight. She quickly casted a spell.

"Bakudo #81, Danku!"

An invisible wall erected itself between Rukia and the attacking panther. Everyone's eyes widened as the man's attack was halted.

Grimmjow grinned excitedly as he eyed Shigeru, "You're that woman that had that strange form! Your coloring is different, but your face is the same."

She narrowed her eyes at the man, "_Thank you, Tessai-sensei!_"

Rukia turned to face Shigeru in shock, but she quickly regained her composure, "Ichigo, Shigeru, we have to fall back! This guy is out of our league―"

Blood splattered from her stomach as a hand impaled her.

Shigeru's eyes widened, "Shit!"

Grimmjow grinned as he lifted her off the ground, "I figured you wouldn't be much!"

He removed his hand from her stomach with a sickening squelch. Rukia dropped to the ground.

Grimmjow smirked at Shigeru, "What's the point of a barrier, if I can go around it, idiot?"

"...You've got a point," she grinned as a vein throbbed angrily on her head.

Ichigo and Shigeru launched themselves at the arrancar. He casually deflected their blades without moving an inch. With the flick of his wrist he sent them flying in opposite directions. He eyed Ichigo this time as he stopped his momentum in the air. Shigeru slid to a stop on the ground.

"Hey! I didn't come here to slaughter lambs! Who do you think I am," the asked boredly.

Ichigo glared at the man as he gripped his Zangetsu. Shigeru glanced over to the bleeding Rukia, making her way over to give her some first aid. She didn't have time to heal her completely, but she could stop the bleeding as the two men fought. Chappy helped her turn the small woman over.

Grimmjow frowned at the orange-haired teen, "If this is all you have to offer, you aren't even worth my time, shinigami! You can't possibly be this weak!"

Shigeru's hands glowed a soft green as she worked on stopping Rukia's bleeding.

Grimmjow's mad grin returned in vigor, "Hurry up and unleash your bankai. Otherwise...you'll be full of holes like that lump of a shinigami over there!"

"You bastard," Ichigo growled, as he gripped his forearm.

The Espada watched on expectantly.

"Bankai!"

Ichigo's shihakusho transformed as his blade shrunk into its Tensa Zangetsu form. He slashed through the black reiatsu that surrounded him. He flashed down, stabbing the ground that Grimmjow once stood, the white-clad arrancar hopping out of the way in time. Ichigo went to slash him again, only for Grimmjow to grab the black blade with his bare hand, grinning all the while.

Grimmjow yanked the boy forward before tossing him clear across the city with one hand. Ichigo went crashing through the ground from the force of the toss.

Shigeru was just about done stopping the bleeding from Rukia's wound, this way they wouldn't have to worry about the woman dying from blood loss. She glanced to the side and did a double take when she saw Grimmjow marching over to her. Shigeru clicked her tongue.

"Chappy! Watch after Rukia," she ordered the gikon as she cut the man off.

Grimmjow grinned madly, "That form was your bankai, right?! C'mon let me see it up close!"

Shigeru crossed her arms in front of her as she grinned at the hot-headed arrancar, "Well, you asked for it! Bankai!"

In a flash of blue and purple, Shigeru stood in the middle of the street clad in her Saiai no Odori Musume form. Grimmjow's eyes widened in excitement at the woman's breathtaking state. Her black scales gleamed in the moonlight. Those golden-blue eyes glowed dangerously in the dark of the night as she narrowed them at her opponent, tail swaying. Shigeru's now snowy white hair fluttered in the night breeze.

She tilted her head to the side sneering at the man revealing her elongated fangs. Shigeru flashed in front of Grimmjow, before he could react she used her powerful thighs to wrap around his center, flipping him to the ground. His eyes widened from his spot on the ground.

"_Oh, she's fast_," he blinked before quickly regaining his composure.

She then encased her forearm blades in lightning, aiming her blades for his throat. Grimmjow sonido-ed out of the way in time, while Shigeru cracked the street below. She quickly latched onto the man's incoming foot, much to his amusement. Shigeru pulled the man closer, spinning around before tossing him in the air.

Grimmjow used a hand to slide to a stop in the air.

"She's not bad," he praised excitedly as she flashed into the air after him.

The two exchanged blow after blow. The man held nothing back, quickly noticing the capabilities of her armored form. To him it was similar to the heirro of the arrancars, just an extremely thick skin in his opinion, and like any shield it could be weakened with enough force. He promptly rushed her with a barrage of punches, then Shigeru returned with the same amount of speed and strength, meeting each blow with one of her own.

She then grabbed the man by his wrist, pulling him closer to her. He blinked in confusion, bringing up one of his free legs to kick her away. Shigeru cuffed an ankle around his leg, forcing it back down. She intertwined her claws fingers with his in an unbreakable grip.

"Ryu no Mai: Tenka Suru," she grinned as she forced the man to match her movements as she pretzeled around him.

Her footsteps left a blue flaming trail with each step she took as she twirled around the man. Grimmjow struggled to get out of her grip as her hands ignited in flames as well her nails digging into his hand. Flaming spikes erupting from the footsteps she left in the air, Grimmjow kicked Shigeru in her stomach using her body to launch away from the attack. The spikes barely missed him.

Shigeru clenched her fist close, releasing the flaming spikes that had emerged from them.

"_If I hadn't gotten out of her grip she would have shredded my arms...and skewered me with the rest_," his lip curled up in a snarl as he watched the flaming spikes dissipate.

She smirked at him as she wrapped her chain around his arm, "Where are you going? I thought we were having fun?"

Shigeru pulled at the chain, but met resistance from the blue-haired arrancar, who glared at the woman refusing to move. She shunpo-ed over him, leg covered in purple lightning over her head.

"We were getting so close," she yelled, grinning madly.

Grimmjow pulled at the chain wrapped around his arm, spinning the girl around like she had done to him earlier in the fight, spending her flying. His grin coming back anew.

He laughed madly, "You're a strange woman, but I'm not complaining!"

"I get that a lot," Shigeru huffed.

The two savagely exchanged blows as they continued to fight. Shigeru found herself enjoying the fight. It was different from her fight with Kenpachi, who was just as brutal in battle. During that battle she was blinded by rage, and wanted nothing more than to injure the captain or maim him before allowing Ichigo to take him on. Something about this fight was different, despite Grimmjow's intentions to kill her, he seemed like he wanted to see what she was actually made of. She could feel him sizing her up the entire fight, and something in her wanted to prove that she was indeed a threat. It was a feeling she'd missed, the exhilaration, the thrill of a good battle.

She landed a punch on the arrancar's handsome face. He spit some blood off to the side, before grinning.

Shigeru could admit that Grimmjow was seriously powerful, and she couldn't even imagine what would have happened a few days ago if Ulquiorra had gotten serious with her while fighting seeing as she was managing to keep up with sixth ranked Espada. However, no matter how much she was enjoying her encounter with Sexta, Rukia needed to get to Orihime to be healed.

She couldn't keep up this evenly matched fight forever.

"_I need to just end this. Sorry, Grimmjow, but this is going nowhere_," she thought as she distanced herself from the man preparing a bankai enhanced Ryuu to Tora no Taifuu. Then charging her energy in each hand.

Suddenly, sharp head splitting pain erupted in her head.

"Ah," she gasped, her reiatsu disrupted as she grasped her head.

Her charging attack vanished as the girl trembled in pain.

"_Shit! I'm sure I wasn't absorbing his energy in my excitement, so why?! Ugh…_," she groaned in confusion.

Grimmjow grinned wasting the opportunity to inflict some real damage on the girl. He closed the distance on her, kicking her in the side. Shigeru shielded herself, but was still sent flying from the force.

"What's this?! You havin' some kind of problem or something," Grimmjow mocked as he grabbed the girl by her wrist, throwing her to the ground.

Shigeru went flying into the ground, a crater forming from the impact. She grit her teeth from the pain in her head and her body. Shigeru opened her eyes, widening, as she rolled out of the way of the man's incoming foot. The force of his stomp deepened the crater even farther. Shigeru quickly got to her feet, aiming a kick for the man's face.

Grimmjow blocked her leg with an arm, the shock-wave of the impact shaking rattled the windows of the houses in the area.

Grimmjow frowned, "You're suddenly so slow! It's no better than those two weaklings I dealt with! How disappointing!"

Shigeru narrowed her eyes as she growled at the man, "Shut up!"

Using her free leg she kicked the man in the chin as she back flipped away from him, landing in a crouch. Her eyes wild from both the pain and frustration she was feeling. Shigeru's head felt like someone was using a nail gun to torture her. She took her flame and lightning infused claws and struck the concrete below her. The street shattered as her reiatsu coursed through the ground creating toward her opponent in a giant wave.

He hopped out of the way amused by her futile efforts but flinched when Shigeru's wide multi-colored eyes glared at him inches from his face, her blade raised high. He grabbed the blade, punching the woman in the stomach. She slumped over, trembling.

"You don't know when to quit," he commented looking down at the strange shinigami before him, thinking he knocked her out.

Shigeru chuckled. He blinked finally noticing that she had caught his punch before it could land. She was trembling as she struggled to grip his larger hand tightly.

She raised her head, cocking her head to the side, "Yeah...I really don't…"

The blue-eyed man offered her a toothy, maniacal grin.

"Interesting…"

Shigeru brought up both her legs, kicking off the man's chest. He released her arm, and she instantly distanced herself. She huffed as she tried to regain her concentration.

"_Okay...Alright...I'll admit. I need help. Ichigo, you can swoop in anytime now_," she frowned as she lifted her arm for a long ranged attack thinking it best to keep her distance.

A pair of hands grabbed her both her wrists from behind. She gasped as her arms were twisted behind her back. Shigeru used hakuda to fight her way out of the man's grip, but something was sapping her strength. Grimmjow used one hand to lock her hands in place on her back while using the other to grasp her by the throat tightly.

She froze, "_Aw, come one! I'd rather get stabbed than choked out, dude!"_

Shigeru closed her eyes tightly, bracing for her neck to be crushed. She felt his hand slide up to her jaw, tilting her head back.

"_What...is he doing_," she furrowed her brows in confusion.

She slowly opened her eyes, sucking in a breath as piercing blue eyes quietly observed her. Shigeru resisted the urge to shiver as she felt his breath on her skin. Grimmjow's face revealed no real emotion as he stared at the woman in his grasp. She frowned, lifting a questioning brow, her tail twitching anxiously.

Grimmjow's grin slowly stretched across his face, he gruffly suggested, "You...should become mine."

Shigeru needed a minute to reboot as she couldn't stop her mouth dropping, "_Did he suddenly forget that we were trying to kill each other like five minutes ago!"_

Shigeru snapped out of her stupor.

"What the fuck! No," she yelled in his face, to his amusement.

He laughed in her ear as he lowered his head to her shoulder as she squirmed.

"I wasn't asking…"

She flinched as he sank his teeth into the bare skin of her left shoulder. Her eyes widened as she struggled with newfound strength to get out of the man's hold.

"Ow! What the hell?! Stop biting me, you psycho," Shigeru hissed as her eyes watered, her shoulder was being gnawed on.

He tightened his grip on her to prevent her from getting away. Grimmjow wasn't satisfied until he managed to break her brown skin. He narrowed his eyes as he sensed the demise of all his fracciones scattered across the city.

"_Those weaklings...It doesn't matter I'll be taking her back with me instead_," he declared, removing his teeth from Shigeru's now bleeding shoulder.

Shigeru shut her eyes as she lifted her leg, preparing to kick the arrancar with all her strength.

"Let her go," Ichigo shouted from below as he rocketed over to the two.

Tensa Zangetsu was aimed for Grimmjow's head, he released Shigeru. Ichigo pulled her into his chest protectively, as he glared at the man.

She pounded him on his already bleeding head and yelled, "About fucking time! What the hell were you doing, sleeping?!"

"He spent me flying to the opposite end of town! And, yeah I may have gotten knocked out when I landed, but I came back," Ichigo yelled right back exasperated.

Shigeru noggied his already injured head, "You still took too long, Mr. Bigshot!"

Ichigo landed on a random rooftop dropping her on her butt.

"Hey! I think I've been abused enough today, dammit," she complained, but stopped when her head began to throb again.

Ichigo watched her as she gripped her head, taking in her appearance particularly the bite mark on her shoulder. He glared up at the arrancar in question with a newfound hatred.

Grimmjow licked the blood from his lips, "You got a problem, shinigami?"

"Shigeru…"

She glanced up to the boy as he turned his back to her.

"I take it from here. You stay back," Ichigo stated gravely.

Shigeru got to her feet, "Look, I don't take orders from you, Ichigo. I need a minute, and then I'm back up there with you, got it?"

Ichigo shook his head not having a choice but to comply with her. He flew back into the air to fight the blue menace. Shigeru closed her eyes, trying to gather her bearings. Her reiatsu was fluctuating way too much, and didn't have the foggiest idea why.

"_Hiryu Raitora! What the hell is happening to me right now_," she asked her zanpakuto spirit.

The dragon-woman explained, "_Those hollows, Yammy and Ulquiorra, was it? Their energy isn't quite resonating well with you. Actually it's more like their energy is trying to eat away at your own_."

"_How is that even a thing_," she frowned.

The were-tiger spoke up, "_Hollows are creatures driven by an insatiable desire to devour souls. Everything about them is about devouring others to become stronger. Your special constitution is allowing you to overcome it, but trying to release that energy was taking too long, so your reiryoku is trying to devour it instead. Quite the nasty process!_"

Shigeru looked up into the sky as Grimmjow was kicking Ichigo in the face repeatedly laughing madly the entire time.

"_It would be best if you avoided absorbing the energy of any of these arrancars from this point on, Shigeru. Right now it's just a head splitting migraine because you took a pinch of their energy. Depending on how much energy you take in...it'll feel like your body is being torn apar_t," the dragon-woman advised before vanishing into her mind.

Ichigo was sent flying into the ground, dust exploding into the air as debris went flying about.

"This so-called 'special' ability is more damn trouble than it's worth," Shigeru commented as her reiatsu began to stabilize for a moment, her headache subsiding temporarily, now finding herself able to let the elements course through her body.

Grimmjow yelled down to Ichigo, "You call that a bankai!? All it gives you is average strength and average speed! You disappoint me, shinigami! Is that all you've got, well?!"

His eyes scanned the area as the dust cleared, a flicker of black could be seen. Ichigo stood his black reiatsu covering his Tensa Zangetsu.

He glared at the Espada, "Getsuga...Tensho!"

Grimmjow quickly crossed his arms in front of him to guard his face. The crescent shaped attack filled the air. The orange-haired shinigami huffed as he glared at the arrancar.

Grimmjow took minimal damage from the attack. A bleeding burn extending from his left wrist to his right thigh. He slowly lowered his arms.

"What...was that?," he grinned, bleeding from the left side of his forehead, "_That_ move wasn't in Ulquiorra's report!"

Ichigo grinned, "Still disappointed, arrancar?"

He was breathing heavily, his inner hollow's influence slowly seething into his eye. Ichigo covered his eye as he huffed.

"Not yet...it's almost over," he muttered.

Grimmjow laughed loudly, "You're finally worth killing, shinigami!"

Shigeru flashed in front of Ichigo, blocking him from Grimmjow's view as he unsheathed his Pantera.

"You boys done being asses," she asked, tired and annoyed at this point.

Ichigo frowned, "Shigeru―"

Shigeru glared fiercely at her fellow substitute shinigami, effectively shutting him up as he flinched from her gaze. She noted the darkness taking over the white of his eyes.

"_He's only got two or three more Getsugas in him, and he knows it...so does Grimmjow. I'm not sure how long I'll last myself, but I've got enough energy left for one more attack_," she frowned as she watched the blueberry above her.

Said man grinned down to her as he pointed his blade at her.

"Ready for a rematch, Shigeru," he particularly purred as he slung his zanpakuto over his shoulder.

Shigeru's frown deepened as she took in a deep breath as purple electricity crackled to life around her. She took a deep breath as she lifted a hand over her head while extending the other in front of her.

The were-tiger yelled in her mind, "_You haven't perfected this attack yet, and in your current condition it might not work!_"

She ignored the spirit as she closed her eyes, "Tora no Mai…"

As she danced around on the street her white chains created a quick rhythm, the electricity wisping from her limbs with every moment as she spun, flipped, and stomped. The two men's eyes widening as the purple lightning discharging from her body created a large corporeal tiger. She back flipped, sending the electrical tiger charging toward the arrancar.

"Kagami Byakko!"

The tiger roared as it extended it's claws launched from its paws turning into projectile spears. Grimmjow dodged the electrified spears as they rocketed toward him, temporary forgetting the electricity given living form coming after him. The tiger's jaws clamping down on his shoulder, before igniting in an electrical explosion that lit up the sky.

Ichigo shielded his eyes from the bright light from the attack. When it cleared Shigeru smacked her lips in disapproval as it looked like Grimmjow didn't take much damage. Electricity crackled throughout his body, slowly fizzling out. A large portion of his trademark jacket was missing as he sported puncture wounds from where the tiger bit him.

"_That should have done way more damage but…_," she cussed as her legs trembled as she forced herself to continue standing.

Grimmjow grinned down at her, impressed at how she defended Ichigo and herself. He could tell that if she had used that attack on him before her reiatsu became a fluctuating mess he would have lost his shoulder completely. He found the urge to take her back to Hueco Mundo with him increasing.

As he took a step forward, Tosen silently appeared behind him, grabbing his uninjured shoulder. The three were shocked by the blind man's sudden appearance. Shigeru could hear the conversation the two enemies were having and knew the night was now over. The defector and arrancar turned to enter the newly summoned Garganta.

Ichigo yelled, "Wait! Where are you going?!"

"Shut up. We're going home," Grimmjow glanced over his shoulder to answer the boy, "To Hueco Mundo."

Ichigo raged on, "What?! You can't just come here, attack us, and then just leave! You gotta be kidding me!"

Shigeru placed a hand on her head feeling the pain coming back as she sighed, "Ichigo, stop…"

"Are you serious, Shigeru," he yelled at the girl before facing the arrancar again, "This isn't over! Get back here!"

Grimmjow stopped in his tracks as he slowly turned to face the teen to tell him off but someone else beat him to it.

Shigeru snapped, "I said _stop_!"

Ichigo blinked at his companion as she yelled at him. He could see the disappointment and anger in her eyes.

"Look at you! You're in no condition to continue this fight, and neither am I! Learn to recognize when _you_ have to step back, Ichigo," she reasoned as she glared at him.

She heard Grimmjow laugh from above. They both turned back to face him and he placed his hands in his pockets.

"It's like she said, shinigami! You've got what, two maybe three attacks left in you if you're lucky," Grimmjow mocked.

Ichigo glared at him nonetheless as he continued.

"Even if you could do it a hundred times, you still couldn't defeat me while in my release mode," he said matter-a-factly.

Shigeru balled up her fist in anger as she realized that if Grimmjow had released his Resurreccion in her current condition he would have, without a doubt, had gotten the upperhand.

"Don't forget my name..."

Grimmjow enters the Garganta behind Tosen.

"...And pray, you never hear it again…"

He turned to grinned down to the two wildly.

"Grimmjow Jeagerjaques! Next time you hear that name...you're dead meat, shinigami," he told Ichigo before glancing over to the person that caught his interest.

She just flipped him off.

"_Too bad I couldn't snatch you away_," he mused as the rift closed.

Once they were gone Shigeru collapsed to the ground as Renji appeared. Ichigo continued to gaze up at the sky.

Renji stepped forward, "The arrancar returned to Hueco Mundo?"

The two remained silent. Shigeru closed her eyes as her head started hurting again, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"...You won."

Ichigo slowly disagreed, "I_ lost_…"

Shigeru groaned as she brought her right knee closer to her stomach, leaning on it as she released her bankai. Her swords in each hand as her black robes rustle in the cool night breeze. She looked down at her shoulder as the blood from the bite mark began to clot.

* * *

_Hueco Mundo_

After Grimmjow's punishment by Tosen, Aizen goes to his observation room. He sits on his throne-like seat. On the wall a projection of Ulquiorra's footage replayed.

Orihime's healing capabilities.

Ichigo's bankai.

Shigeru's entrance to the fight.

The ex-captain tapped his finger on the armrest as he placed his other hand to his chin. His emotionless brown eyes reflecting the images deep in thought.

He simply hummed to himself.

* * *

_The Next Day_

Ichigo revisited the places of his multiple defeats.

He stood by the crater at the park as images of Yammy and Ulquiorra flashed through his mind. The haunting images of Chad's severed arm, Tatsuki's unconscious form, and Orihime being slapped to the side, making his expression darken.

The boy turned heading toward the crater from last night, surrounded by warning tape and curious people in the neighborhood, wondering how they didn't hear anything in the night. Some questioned if it was due to a ruptured gas line.

An image of Grimmjow flashed through his mind. Rukia being impaled by the arrancar. Shigeru, arms pinned behind her back, Grimmjow biting her shoulder.

The darkness seething across his eye.

He remembered what Shigeru told him.

"_They can help you with the specifics of your condition…"_

Ichigo wanders off in search of the only ones that can help him figure this whole thing out.

"_I know. I know, it can't go on like this_," he thought sullenly.

He managed to track down their warehouse with ease, entering the barrier of his reiatsu vanishing from his friends' senses.

Shigeru decided to skip school as well, like many of her other companions. She lay resting in her bed, a bottle of aspirin sitting nearby. She cracks open her eyes as she senses Ichigo vanish from her radar. She sighed before closing them again.

"Finally, you stubborn idiot…," she muttered before she slipped back into a dreamless sleep.

**Author's Note: Alright! Two chapters in a week. So Grimmjow has an interest in Shigeru! God, our girl is just a psycho magnet! He might get a little possessive in the future, but I think she'll be able to handle him. Ichigo finally goes to the Visoreds, and Shigeru briefly showcases the fruits of her training with Tessai. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Next chapter, Shigeru is feeling a little sick! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Sorry for not updating lately. I've been going through some family issues (not related to the virus) and haven't been in the right mindset to write. However, here it is. I did have to leave my home for a while, and forgot my notebook with my outline in a rush so I have to remember what I wrote down, but that shouldn't really be a problem. Stay safe out there everyone and take care of yourselves until this quarantine is over. Mental health is important and your physical health is important. You don't ****ever, **_**ever**_** have to put up with unsupportive people in your life be it family or friends. Don't forget that! Enjoy the new chapter! I'm sorry for the chapter being shorter than usual, but we'll make it work guys :)! **

Chapter 15: Delirium Can Be Fun

_Half Month Later_

"Tatsuki, are you ready to go," Shigeru asked the girl as she stuck her head in the classroom.

Tatsuki grabbed her things, "Yeah, be right there!"

After the whole incident with Grimmjow and his fracciones, everyone went their separate ways to train for the upcoming war. Shigeru was the only one to still come to school, which was sort of her stress relief. School was an easier concept compared to the idea of fighting to the death so that the universe could stay balanced. Besides, it wasn't fair that Tatsuki, Keigo, and the others were always so out of the loop. She had gotten even closer to Tatsuki and the guys since the others were either at the Soul Society or Urahara's or with the Visoreds. Shigeru decided that since Tatsuki knew what was going on there was no reason to avoid her, so she'd been frequently going to the Karate Club so that they both could vent out their frustrations through sparring. Then after whipping the boys into shape they would go to grab a snack or two at this new little cafe that had opened in the area.

She and Tatsuki were just two peas in a pod now ever since Shigeru had told her about her situation. Tatsuki, along with Ichigo, were the few that knew about her predicament now.

In the little cafe, she and Tatsuki waited to be seated.

Shigeru read over the little menu opting to get a strawberry shortcake. Tatsuki grinned as she placed her menu on the table.

"You know eating all this junk food defeats the purpose of our workout, right," she laughed.

Shigeru smirked, flipping the menu over to look at drinks, "We deserve to indulge every now and then. Besides we'll just burn it off during practice anyway."

The waitress stepped up to get their orders. Shigeru sipped her water, feeling a persistent tingle in her throat that's been bothering her these last few days.

Tatsuki placed her elbow on the table and stared at her companion for a while. Shigeru smiled at the karate prodigy across from her.

"What's up? Why all the staring," she asked, coughing a little before taking another sip of her water.

Tatsuki leaned on her arm, "Well...I was wondering if you'd ever go back to your original life if given the opportunity?"

Shigeru froze.

"_Would I…?"_

Granted, Shigeru missed her world dearly, but she was happy where she was nonetheless. She'd been thinking of things that she could actually change when the time came. There were a few deaths in the upcoming war that she wanted to prevent. Two people that deserve to have a second chance in her opinion. Then there was the whole Xcution fiasco in the future, but she didn't really care or pay much attention to that arc, so she planned to deal with the hurdle when the time came.

"I...I don't think that I would," she answered honestly after some heavy consideration, leaning back in her seat.

She'd given up on the prospect weeks into being in the _Bleach-verse_. She'd fallen in love with the place and the people. She could admit she was having a hard time coming to terms that this was her reality now, treating them as if they were still just anime characters. These people were no longer fictional characters, they were flesh and blood people. The possibility of her dying was real. Everything was_ real._

She subconsciously rubbed the shoulder that now sported a healed bite scar as she thought of her multiple wounds and scars she'd acquired in the last few months. Shigeru looked at her bag where Hiryu Raitora were hanging out her school bag. Testing out theories and all. At first she didn't understand why the rest of the shinigami didn't do it, but after getting a few odd looks here and there as well and running from a cop, she _completely_ understood.

Tatsuki smiled brightly, "That's nice to hear."

Shigeru grinned as she fanned herself with the little dessert advertisement on the table. Tatsuki noticed that the brunette looked a little flushed, and she was drinking a lot of water lately. She leaned over, placing her hand on Shigeru's forehead. Tatsuki frowned at how warm she was.

"You're a little warm. Are you getting sick," Tatsuki asked in concern.

Shigeru blinked, thinking for a moment, "_It could just be the reiatsu training…I'll hold off on that today._"

"I don't think so," she shook her head, but Tatsuki wasn't convinced.

The waiter reappeared with their orders. Shigeru beamed as she quickly dug into the strawberry shortcake that was placed in front of her. Tatsuki sipped on her milkshake completely content.

After the girls were done eating they went their separate ways. Shigeru headed in the direction of Urahara's.

Tatsuki turned and yelled, "Get rest! Don't get any sicker!"

"I'm not sick," Shigeru waved at her concerned friend.

As she walked along her path she sneezed.

* * *

_Urahara's Shop_

She let herself into the shop, quickly descending the ladder to the training facility. Shigeru sighed as she saw Chad and Renji in the distance going at each other. She wondered when they even took breaks, or if they just went on and on until someone passed out or something.

Kisuke perked up when she hit the ground, "Little Shigeru! How was your day?"

Shigeru sighed, "Same ol', same ol'."

Kisuke noticed the girl looked a little fatigued, but thought that it was because of her school activities.

"So what do you want to work on today," Kisuke asked, ruffling the girl's hair.

She slapped his hand away from her, whining, "Kisuke, I keep telling you to stop that!"

"But it's just so fun to rile you up," he chuckled, inching her cheek.

She whined as Yoruichi walked over, pulling her away from the man.

"Get serious, Kisuke! Jeez, she just got here," she frowned at the man.

Shigeru rummaged through her bag for her glove, expelling herself from her body. Her body fell to the ground with a _thump._

"Let's do combat training, Kisuke...Yoruichi," she smiled brightly.

The two ex-captains shrugged and readied themselves for the spar. As the dimensional traveler and shinigami battled the older of the three noticed that she was becoming sloppier as time went on. Her reaction time was off, and she was out of breath.

"Okay, let's stop for today," Yoruichi declared.

Shigeru's eyes widened, "What? Why?"

Kisuke curiously glanced over to Yoruichi as she walked over to his favorite person to tease. She scrutinized the girl. Shigeru was sweating profusely, way more than she usually did during training, had been coughing here and there as they fought, and her face was redder than usual.

"You're sick," the shape-shifter declared.

Shigeru frowned as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "No, I'm not! I promise―"

A cough racked her body.

"Okay, maybe I'm coming down with a head cold," Shigeru finally admitted out loud.

"I told you to wear a jacket a couple days ago," Yoruichi laughed as she placed a hand on the girls forehead checking her temperature.

Shigeru coughed before mumbling, "I thought I would be fine…"

With the unstable weather, Shigeru hadn't been taking proper precautions. She had gotten caught in the rain earlier that week, and she'd forgotten her thick jacket on a particular chilly day a couple of days ago. She thought she would be fine, since she was way healthier than when she was in her original world, lacking asthma which usually flared up this time of year.

It was now Kisuke's turn to place a hand on her forehead, "Shigeru, you have a cold. Go home and rest. You've been pushing your body too hard lately."

Shigeru protested, "But we have to prepare for the upcoming battle! A little cold is nothing to be worried about―"

"Don't be silly! A day or two without training won't cause you to become a weakling," Yoruichi cut in, flicking the girl on the forehead.

Shigeru gave in begrudgingly. She didn't think that a little cold was a reason for concern, and didn't get why everyone was making such a big deal out of it.

She sighed, "Okay. I'll be back in a couple days...It's just a head cold, so I should be better by then."

The two nodded and shooed the girl away. She re-entered her body, pouting like a child the whole time.

* * *

_A Couple Days Later_

Shigeru laid in her bed dressed in nothing more than a black sports bra and boxer briefs. Her face completely flushed, her chest rising and falling as she panted, sweat drenching the sheets below her.

The cold had only gotten worse.

Her cough rattled her lungs as she reached for the bottle of water on her nightstand. The cool water soothing her raw throat. Shigeru slowly stood up from her bed, wrapping her sheet around her shoulders as she stumbled to the bathroom, heading straight for the medicine in the cabinet.

"How come I'm the only one to catch a stupid, freaking cold," she coughed, pouring the cold medicine into its clear cap.

She swallowed the cherry flavored liquid grimacing before pouring the little cap halfway for one more swig artificially flavored medicine.

Shigeru walked back into her room, collapsing back into her bed. She pulled the blanket over her shivering body. The medicine was quickly doing it's job in making her drowsy. She drifted off as she curled up into a ball.

Elsewhere, the arrancars made their move as a healed Yammy, replacement Espada Luppi, demoted Grimmjow, and newborn Wonderweiss confronted the shinigami appointed to the city.

The former Sexta Espada quickly separated himself from the other arrancars in his pursuit of two particular shinigami. One that had caught his interest, and the other his disdain. He quickly sonido-ed over the orange haired shinigami, who had been just as eager to confront him.

A one-armed, newly demoted Grimmjow glared down at Ichigo. He scanned the area looking for a particular someone.

"Hey, Kurosaki...where's Shigeru? From what we gathered from our intel you two are never that far from each other," he frowned as he was hoping to see her again.

Ichigo ignored his question though he was beginning to wonder the same thing, but from what he could tell she was at her apartment, which was strange. She didn't usually miss out on opportunities to fight.

"_Strange…_," he thought before focusing on showing the arrancar the results of his training over the last month.

While everyone was fighting a new Garganta opened in the city.

Stark silently stepped out of the opening into a clean living room. He glanced around before hearing a cough softly echoing throughout the apartment. The Primera followed the little sound, walking into the bedroom.

He stepped up to the side of the bed. He pulled back the blankets from the sleeping substitute shinigami. She shivered from the sudden loss of warmth, but showed no signs of waking. Stark pulled out a silver bracelet from his pocket, latching it on to one of her wrists.

Stark wrapped the girl in her sheet before lifting her into his arms as gently as possible in the hopes of not stirring her from her slumber. Shigeru remained unconscious, but she groaned in discomfort as her brows furrowed together. He heard something clattering in the room as he adjusted Shigeru in his arms. Stark searched the room for the rattling, spotting her zanpakutos on her table. They were clattering angrily. He stepped over to the table, and the clattering stopped.

"_How odd...Seems the blades can sense danger near their master. What a drag...,_" he thought as he grabbed the blades, placing them in the slash on his waist.

Stark walked back into the living room, where the Garganta remained open. He stepped through the opening as unnoticed as he had been when he arrived.

* * *

_In Hueco Mundo_

The Espada and Orihime enter the throne room as Aizen welcomed them back to Las Noches. A couple of the arrancar were bandaged up from their battle at Karakura. Orihime glanced around nervously at the enemies she had been training so hard to battle for almost a month. Her eyes widened when a taller man walked in carrying something―rather someone.

Orihime gasped once she saw the condition that the brown haired girl was in, as she was carried by a man with brown hair and grayish-blue eyes. Shigeru looked so ill. She took a step in her direction, but stopped when she heard the monotonous voice of Aizen.

"You are Orihime Inoue, correct," the man asked as his intense gaze pounded down on the girl.

Orihime timidly replied, "...Yes, sir."

"Sorry to be forward, Orihime, but would you show us your power," Aizen didn't so much ask. It was more of a command.

She paled slightly, "...Yes."

Aizen ordered the girl to fix Grimmjow's arm, but not without protest from Luppi. As the newly appointed Espada spewed death threats to the young high scholar, she ignored him. Orihime stepped up to the arm armed man and activated her abilities. His arm quickly regenerated from nothingness, to the surprise of Grimmjow and Luppi. As Aizen explained Orihime's abilities to the ones in the room, Grimmjow glanced down at his healed arm, flexing it.

"Hey, girl. Fix one more spot," Grimmjow ordered, pointing to his back.

Luppi glared at the arrancar, as Orihime quickly fixed the burn scar on his back, revealing the tattooed 6 below.

Luppi narrowed his eyes, "Grimmjow...what do you think you're doing?"

Grimmjow grinned as he glanced over his shoulder.

The panther sonido-ed over to the small arrancar, impaling him through his chest with his bare hand. Luppi coughed up blood as he glared at the stronger monster before him.

"So long, _former_ Mr. Six," Grimmjow grinned as he charged up a cero in his free hand.

He blasted Luppi, disintegrating his upper body. The ex-Espada's legs slowly dropped to the floor, splattering his blood everywhere. Orihime's eyes widened in horror at the display of violence.

Grimmjow laughed with mad glee at the return of his arm, rank, and claim to power. All of the ruckus from the activities was disturbing the sick and sleeping shinigami.

Shigeru groaned as she stirred awake, "Why...why is it so loud?"

Grimmjow continued to laugh like a maniac in his own little world as he reclaimed his rank.

Stark blinked down at the girl in his arms as she snuggled closer to his warmth as she groaned irritably, "Shut uppp…"

Orihime turned around after hearing the girl's voice. She speedily stepped over to Stark.

"Shigeru? Are you awake," she whispered frantically, brushing the hairs clinging to her friends face to the side.

Shigeru cracked her eyes open, but everything seemed so bright and her body felt so heavy, tired. Maybe she overdid it with the cold medicine. She blinked the blurriness from her eyes as she focused on the orange-haired girl. She smiled, not thinking too much of her surroundings.

"Oh, hi, Hime. How'd you get into my apartment," Shigeru giggled.

Orihime frowned, whispering to the girl, "Shigeru, we're not in your apartment. Look around…"

Brown glazed eyes shifted around the brightly lit room. She watched as Grimmjow laughed, Ulquiorra ignoring everything, and Yammy giving the blue-haired Espada the side-eye. Aizen smirked down from his throne as his eyes met hers. Shigeru then looked up at the face of the man carrying her. Stark looked forward, bored of everything that was happening as he yawned. Shigeru reached up a hand to cup his cheek. Stark flinched and looked down to the grinning girl.

"Nice, wolfie," she grinned, patting him on the cheek affectionately.

Stark and Orihime sweat-dropped, "_Wolfie?!_"

Orihime blinked, "S-Shigeru are you sure you're alright?"

The brown shinigami, tilted her head, grinning. She suddenly wrapped her hands around Stark's neck, rubbing her cheek against his.

"Wolfie is carrying me so I'm fine," Shigeru cheered brightly.

Grimmjow stopped laughing when he heard Shigeru's cheerful voice. He turned to see her hugging Stark.

His glared at the Primera, "_What the fuck does he think he's doing with her?_"

His eyes widened a fracture at his sudden spike of jealousy. Grimmjow tilted his head, not completely understanding his own emotions.

Aizen chuckled at the girl, "Shigeru Kuroi, correct?"

Shigeru stopped rubbing her face against the Espada, slowly turning to face Aizen.

She grinned widely, nodding her head as she leaned on Stark's shoulder.

Aizen leaned against his hand, "Would you display your power to me and my Espada?"

"Hmm, nope," she beamed.

The Espada's eyes widened as they snapped in the direction of the girl at her disrespectful behavior.

Orihime ran a hand down her face, "_She's acting like Yachiru!_"

Grimmjow resisted the urge to smirk, "_The balls on this woman…_"

Yammy stomped toward the girl, "You little insect! Lord Aizen, has requested you to display your power. Now do it!"

Shigeru tilted her head up to the hulking arrancar. She frowned before she hugged Stark tightly, burying her face into the crock of his neck.

"Wolfie...tell Funny-Brows―"

"Funny-Brows," the Cero arrancar shouted, taking a surprised step back.

"―to leave me alone. Before I get _angry_…," she added with a displeased edge to her voice, her reiatsu spiking.

Stark balanced the girl in one arm as he casually scratched the back of his neck. He looked up to his companion, who was feeling the girls slowly spiking reiatsu.

"...You might want to back off Yammy," Stark supplied in amusement, patting the girl on the back when she coughed.

Orihime reached forward, placing her hand on her neck and then forehead, "_She's burning up!"_

The vein on the arrancar's forehead, his lips pulling back in a snarl. His hand glowing as he charged a Bala. Grimmjow glared at the giant arrancar, preparing to attack him if he touched a hair on Shigeru's head. Yammy fired the Bala, but Shigeru swiped it away from her with one hand, sending it crashing into the wall. The giant Espada's eyes widened as she slowly turned her face to look at him, a menacing smile on her face.

"Oh, Eye-Brows," she called in a sing-songy voice, before she flashed out of Stark's grasp.

Yammy glanced around, "Where―"

Shigeru's leg connected with his side, sending him flying through another wall. It crumbled as he went through it, but he continued to crash into a couple of more. Everyone in the room blinked in shock. Shigeru's momentary bust of strength subsided and she wobbled. Orihime ran forward to steady her.

"Shigeru, you shouldn't be moving around like that. You're not well. Please, relax," Orihime pleaded with the girl.

Shigeru wasn't in her right mind, the room was swaying, but she found it funny. To her it was like a fun-house. She patted Orihime on the head.

"Hime, who's that guy, again," she asked, pointing at the man in the throne.

Aizen wasn't fazed by Shigeru's defiance or her knocking the Cero through several, but he was curious to the reason behind her rather childish behavior. Last time he had encountered the girl, she gave the the most venomous glare. Aizen never forgot that fiery rage in her eyes. He was expecting the brown-skinned shinigami to display that amusing yet futile defiance. He just observed her with his emotionless smile.

Orihime followed the pointing finger glancing at Aizen. She frowned, furrowing her brows at the taller girl.

"Do...Do you not remember Aizen," she asked the feverish girl.

Shigeru tilted her head back and forth as if searching her memory. She perked up.

"Oh yeah! Aizen," she beamed.

Shigeru shunpo-ed over to the current ruler of Hueco Mundo. Aizen simply raised an elegantly arch brow.

"Damn, you're still so hot. Your little curl is so cute," she giggled deliriously much to the horror of Orihime.

Shigeru booped Aizen on the nose as she giggled.

Orihime covered her face from secondhand embarrassment, "_Shigeru, please stop!_"

Stark coughed into his hand to cover his laugh, Grimmjow could only grimace in disgust covered in goosebumps, Ulquiorra watched on emotionlessly, and Yammy's pained groan traveled through the hole in the wall.

Shigeru leaned on the man's throne as she giggled to herself, but quickly covered her mouth when coughs racked her body. The man could see that she was not in good condition. Her face flushed, a layer of sweat glistening on her body, and her breath was slightly labored.

Aizen placed his hand on her forehead taking note of her extremely high temperature. Her eyes fluttered, his hands were just so cool.

"Oh my, you're running quite the fever. This will never do," he commented as his hand glowed white.

Shigeru's eyes rolled to the back of her head. She fell forward, Aizen quickly caught her with an arm. He stood from his throne, lifting the girl into his arms. He eyed the unconscious girl's face, before glancing down to his Espada and other captive. Orihime's eyes were wide with concern, her hands tightly clenching her skirt. He could tell she was restraining herself from trying to get to her companion, but knew that she was severely outnumbered. Even if Orihime had managed to get Shigeru, with her current condition, she would undoubtedly be overpowered.

What really caught his eye was the reaction from a certain hot headed arrancar. Grimmjow looked livid, as his lips pulled back in a snarl, body shaking with rage, but it seemed that the arrancar didn't realize what he was doing himself. If he remembered correctly, Grimmjow showed a particular interest in the girl he was holding in his arms.

Aizen smirked internally as he regarded the group below, "_Interesting…_"

The ex-captain turned from the group, looking over his shoulder, "Seems like our guest isn't feeling well. I will take her to be treated. You all are dismissed."

He took a step, stopping abruptly, turning to face the group once more.

"Ulquiorra…"

The green-eyed Espada looked up, "Yes, Lord Aizen."

Aizen's emotionless eyes flickered to Orihime.

"Make sure our other guest gets settled in," he added before walking off with the young substitute shinigami.

Ulquiorra bowed slightly, "As you wish, Lord Aizen."

* * *

_Spare Room_

Aizen sat in a chair observing the girl as she slept. The lower-level arrancar nurse dabbed the girl with a wet towel. Shigeru looked a lot calmer than before, the coloring of her returning face slowly returning to normal. Aizen hummed to himself as he thought of what he had planned for the young girl. She was a fascinating creature, and he'd been keeping tabs on her and her abilities. For now, he wanted her to regain her health as her abduction was a well-timed miscalculation. Who'd of thought the girl would come down with such a nasty cold, making it an effortless job for Stark.

Shigeru groaned uncomfortably as the nurse wiped down the rest of the girl's body, before drying her off with a clean towel. There was a knock at the door as the nurse covered the girl with the clean bedding.

Grimmjow entered the room.

"You summoned me, Lord Aizen," he stated as he placed his hands in his pockets, glancing over to the slumbering human.

Aizen leaned back, crossing his legs, "Ah, yes. Grimmjow, I have a task for you."

His brown eyes shifted to Shigeru as he smiled knowingly. Grimmjow frowned, not liking the way he was looking at the woman. Aizen stood from his spot and slowly sashayed toward the door.

"You will be our guest's caretaker while she is here. Can I trust you with this task," Aizen coolly asked as he passed the arrancar.

Grimmjow gave the man a curt nod, "Yes, Lord Aizen."

The ex-captain smirked, "Good. Don't disappoint me."

Aizen exited the room, leaving the slumbering girl, Grimmjow, and the nurse alone. Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair, sighing in frustration, "_Prick…_"

He stepped to the edge of the bed as the nurse gathered the soiled towels. She bowed to the superior arrancar.

"Her condition is stable. All she will need is rest for the time being. I've left clean towels to dry her if her fever increases any further," she conveyed to him.

Grimmjow grunted, signalling to her that he understood. She bowed before exiting the room, leaving the two only. He stepped around to the side of the bed, frowning at the snoozing girl. He used his foot to shake the bed.

He grunted, "Hey, are you really asleep?"

No response.

"I want to have a rematch, so wake up," he demanded, leaning closer to the girl's face.

Shigeru remained unresponsive.

Grimmjow sat on the edge of the bed watching the girl sleep. She rolled over so that her back faced the man, blanket falling from her shoulder as she settled on her right side.

He rolled his eyes, "Tch…"

Grimmjow moved a little closer to her so he could cover her up, but stopped short once he noticed the scars on her back.

"What the…," he mumbled as he brushed her hair over her shoulder to get a better look.

His eyes widened at the large scar running across her back gently running his fingers along the darker scar tissue. Shigeru's skin jumped at the touch of his cool hand, but she remained in her deep slumber.

Grimmjow glanced up, retracting his hand, "_So you've got some war stories of your own, huh_?"

Shigeru groaned softly as she snuggled into the pillow. He looked down at her peaceful expression, frowning as he thought back to Shigeru in Aizen's arms. It angered him seeing the shinigami even touching her. Grimmjow brushed his fingers against the nape of Shigeru's neck. Something inside him was telling him that this woman and him had a connection. She was meant to be with him.

"_She's mine_," he declared to himself as he leaned closer to Shigeru's neck.

Grimmjow leaned down and nibbled on her nape. He slowly applied pressure onto the girl's neck. Shigeru whined in her sleep, trying to curl in on herself away from the arrancar. Grimmjow wrapped his arm around her shoulder and waist, pulling her back upright as his teeth sunk further into her tender skin. He pulled back running his thumb along the teeth marks engraved in the girl's neck, admiring his handiwork. Shigeru's face was screwed up in pain.

The blue-haired arrancar ran his hand through her hair, rubbing the girl's hair gently soothing her. Shigeru's face relaxed as she settled back into her pillow. The Espada settled on the bed next to her, leaning his head into his arm as he continued to run his hand through the brunette's long curly hair.

"Hurry and get your shit together so we can have our rematch," he grumbled to the slumbering girl.

The sound of Shigeru's light snoring filled the room.

**Author's Note: Alright, guys. A couple of things. Chapter will be shorter than usual as per the note before the chapter, but who knows that might be a little better for the story. I originally planned for the story to be roughly 26~35-ish chapters. After the Winter War I was going to make the Fullbring Arc like two chapters, tops, because I wasn't really invested in it when it happened years ago, and then jump into The Thousand Year War (I also have an after story in mind that will basically be a collection of one-shots following Shigeru after the story/series ends, but we'll get there eventually *wink*) As far as Grimmjow's behavior...I don't know how many of you have read omegaverse stories. I was going for Grimmjow (being more animalistic in nature) recognizing Shigeru as his fated pair, though he thinks of it more as him seeing her as a great potential battle partner for now. The reason he had such a violent reaction to Aizen touching Shigeru versus Stark is because he sees Aizen as an actual threat to her safety. We'll get more into the friendship of Grimmjow and Stark in later chapters. Updates might be a little sporadic due to personal circumstances, but I still read reviews whenever they come in. I find them very motivating and they make me extremely happy. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! See you next time with more of Shigeru :) **


	16. Chapter 16

**Author Notes: Had you guys scared there for a second, didn't I? Of course I wasn't dropping this story haha! Especially not after how far we've gotten on Shigeru's journey! Let's see Shigeru's interaction with some Espada, particularly a certain spiky blue-haired one. Maybe tune in to a certain disgruntled Strawberry and his reaction to the missing girls. Finally, after a month I got my outline back, so we can get this show back on the road! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 16: Cats Fight, Wolves Nap

Shigeru felt like she was frozen in time. She was floating in the calming darkness of her mind. Not her inner world, her soul. Just her mind. Shigeru wanted to open her eyes, but they felt like they were sealed shut.

"_So hot...too hot.._," she frowned in discomfort.

She wanted so desperately to do something about the burning sensation settling into her body, but her body felt heavy despite the weightlessness of her mind. After a while the heat slowly became nothing more than comfortable warmth. Shigeru was just about to lull into the dreamless sleep in the depths of her subconsciousness a sharp pain exploded on the back of her neck.

Shigeru's face twisted up and yet she still couldn't open up her eyes.

Her pained moans echoing through her mind, "_...Hurts...Please, stop…_"

Shigeru fought with what little strength she had to move. To get away from whatever was causing her pain. Suddenly something held her in place, preventing her from moving too far.

She whined wishing for the pain to go away. Then it suddenly stopped. A familiar warmth―a hand placed itself on her hand. Soothing her, making the pain go away.

There was a familiar scent, "_Ichigo? No...not him…_"

He was usually the only one who comforted her like this, but this hand felt different. The hand running through her hair was so soothing, so nice.

She finally relaxed into the touch of the hand. Shigeru finally gave in to the warm comfort of the nothingness within her head.

* * *

Grimmjow was resting his eyes as he lounged next to the brown haired shinigami. After placing his mark on her, she hadn't stirred for the rest of the night as he ran his hand through her unruly curls.

Shigeru shifted closer to him at some point in her sleep. She finally started to stir awake, bringing a hand up to her closed eyes. Grimmjow opened an eye lazily glancing at the girl as she tried to shake off any effects of whatever spell Aizen placed her under. She groaned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, cracking one open before quickly shutting it again.

"This room is too bright! The fuck is up with all this _white_…," she mumbled to herself, sleepiness in her voice.

Grimmjow smirked down at the girl's antics.

Shigeru sighed deeply as she settled into the bed trying to gather her thoughts. She could already tell that she was _not_ in her apartment, judging by the softness of the bed she was in. Her bed was slightly firmer than the one she was currently in, and her room definitely was _not _white. The last thing she remembered was talking a shitload of cold medicine and passing out. She vaguely remembered dreaming of Orihime. But she could have just imagined that, right?

Shigeru turned to lay on her side facing the other person in the bed and opened her eyes, squinting as she blew a wayward curl out of her face. Her eyes widened when warm brown clashed with bright cyan.

Grimmjow's chest rumbled from his deep amused laughter.

"About damn time you noticed," he smirked down cockily.

Shigeru's brain was having a hard time processing, it was going absolutely haywire, before temporarily shutting down. Once it rebooted she flew back, falling from the bed taking the crisp white sheets with her. She quickly hopped to her feet, pointing at the bluenette, who just arched an amused brow at her frantic behavior.

"What the―why are we―Grimmjow?!"

She huffed, her brown curly bed head pointing in all directions. The Espada cracked his neck as he stretched his inactive muscles.

"I've been waiting for your lazy ass to wake up," he huffed, standing from his spot on the bed.

Shigeru frowned at the "lazy" comment, "I'm sick! What did you expect?"

"You humans and your weak, what are they called, immune systems or something," he shrugged, stepping toward her.

Shigeru stepped back almost tripping over the chair behind her. A predatory gleam flashed in the man's eyes as she backed away. Her hands instinctively went to her hips.

She cussed to herself, "_Shit! Where are they?!_"

Shigeru quickly got into a fighting stance before Grimmjow stopped in front of her. He grinned widely.

"Oh, so you're up for a rematch already? I was at least going to let you get yourself together first, at least―"

Shigeru's fist made contact with his bare cheek, or so she thought. He gripped her wrist before her knuckles could properly connect. She frowned at her slowness, a side-effect of her cold and whatever Aizen did to her. He tightened the grip on her wrist, causing her to flinch. Grimmjow pulled Shigeru almost flush against him as he grinned down madly.

"_Why is he being so damn touchy feely_," she growled as she struggled to rip her arm from his grasp.

Grimmjow's grip didn't budge.

"Agh, let go!," Shigeru glared up to him in frustration.

She frowned at his handsome face and how amused he was with all this. This was all _way_ too out of character. Grimmjow didn't act so flirtatious, if that's what she wanted to call this situation. He was a violent, rude, battle hungry, and cocky man. Some of the many reasons why she loved his character. She had a thing for characters like him, sue her! This Grimmjow was giving her goosebumps, in more ways than one…

He leaned down, inches from her face, "It's good to see you so fired up to fight, but first hit the shower, and I'll get you some clothes. Unless you _want _to run around Hueco Mundo unarmed _and_ half-naked."

Grimmjow's eyes wandered lower and Shigeru followed his graze. She blushed realizing she was indeed only in her sports bra and boxers she fell asleep in. Shigeru quickly used her free hand to push his face away to stop him from ogling her body.

"Dude! Stop staring! Fine! I'll give you your stupid rematch since there's nothing else to do in this stupid, boring place! Jesus," the brunette yelled.

Grimmjow finally released her wrist, and she quickly took a step back rubbing her wrist.

"That's more like it," he grinned pleased with himself.

Shigeru rolled her eyes, "_These guys are so damn childish in reality…_"

Shigeru finally glanced around the painfully bland room. There wasn't much in it besides the bed, the chair she tripped over, and an uncomfortable looking couch. She noticed a door that must have led to the bathroom, without giving Grimmjow a second glance she marched to it. Shigeru quickly entered, slamming the door behind her.

"Don't take forever in there," she heard him call.

She yelled back, "Go get me some damn clothes already!"

Grimmjow clicked his teeth, "Fine…"

Shigeru placed an ear to the door, listening to his footsteps as he went toward the exit. The door opened and closed behind him. She sighed as his reiatsu got further and further away. Shigeru placed her forehead on the bathroom door sighing irritably. She was sticky from sweating the cold out, but she could tell she still wasn't at full strength. She coughed a little. Shigeru probably had another day or two before she was fully recovered, but first things first...

"There better not be cameras in here, Aizen, you paranoid creep," she muttered to herself.

She turned to face the bathroom. A glass stalled shower, sink, and toilet. The bathroom was surprisingly pretty modern. It even had a full body mirror. She looked around for towels and found them in a cabinet next to her. Stripping out her sweaty "pajamas" and kicking them to the side felt amazing. She turned on the hot water, steam quickly feeling the room. Shigeru stepped into the shower, letting the warm water cascade down her body.

"_Damn, this shower is amazing_," she mused to herself.

She turned to let the water soak her hair and back, but hissed when the water directly hit the back on her neck.

"The fuck…"

Her hand quickly went to the stinging skin. She gently touched the indents on the nape on her neck.

"_Was I...who the hell bit me_," she asked genuinely confused, but then it clicked in her mind.

So far only one person has shown a habit of biting, making it easy to put two and two together.

Shigeru continued to wash her body and hair, prepping herself for the verbal lashing she was going to give the blue-haired menace when he got back. Thinking back to when he bit her on her shoulder, as she ran her fingers over the scared.

She fumed, "_It's already bad enough that he bit me once already! Why the hell would he bite me again?_"

Once she felt clean enough she stepped out of the shower. Shigeru wrapped her hair and body in the large towels before stepping in front of the mirror. She wiped the fog clouding it's surface to see her reflection. Shigeru sported some dark circles under her eyes, and her eyes looked a little tired. Despite how good the shower made her feel, she still felt slightly sluggish but much, much better compared to the last few days with her cold nonetheless.

"_I'm stuck in Hueco Mundo… but what the hell does Aizen want with me? What does he think I have to offer him in his plans? More importantly, where did he put my Hiryu Raitora…_," Shigeru pondered as she dried her hair.

She closed her eyes, reaching out to her zanpakuto.

"Can you guys hear me?"

Shigeru waited for a response.

"_Little...One…_," Hiryu Raitora called out barely audible.

Her frown deepened. They sounded frantic, but they were close enough for her to hear and at the same time so far. Not great, but good enough. She could feel a soft tugging in the back of her mind, they were calling out for her. When she was close enough she'd get them… unless she found a way to call them to her.

"I'll get you guys soon," she promised aloud, wrapping the towel in her hands around her shoulders.

Shigeru stepped out of the bathroom and almost ran face first into a tan chiseled chest.

Grimmjow cocked his head in the direction of the bed, "Get dressed."

Shigeru looked over his broad shoulder at the bed where he laid out some white (of course) clothing and black boots. She looked back up at the Espada and frowned.

"Did you _bite _me _again_," she pointed to the back of her neck.

Grimmjow looked to the side absently, casually shrugging his broad shoulders, "What of it?"

"You..," Shigeru's eyebrow twitched, her blood pressure rising.

Grimmjow looked down at the pouty woman before him. She was radiating pure annoyance, but in his opinion it just added a certain allure to her. Shigeru tapped her barefoot on the floor waiting for the man to say something.

He smirked, leaning down to eye level with the peeved Shigeru, "I already told you...you're _mine_, so why wouldn't I mark what belongs to me?"

Shigeru felt something snap. The last of her patience.

She shoved the Espada away from her with all her strength, sending him flying across the room. Grimmjow's eyes widened as he crashed into the wall. Black, angry cracks webbed their way up the blank white wall. He slid down to the ground stunned by the substitute shinigami's reaction. Why wouldn't a woman want to be chosen by him? He was _the _Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez for Soul King's sake! She should feel honored that he found her fascinating enough to even be bothered.

Right when he was about to get up, Shigeru kicked him in the shoulder, pinning it to the wall as she glared down into livid blue eyes. She was leaking her multi-colored reiatsu due to her immense irritation.

She leaned on her knee, "Listen here, Jaegerjaquez. I'm not anyone's plaything so get this 'you're mine' shit outta your head! I don't 'belong' to anyone but myself, got it?! If I had my zanpakuto right now I'd shove them where the sun don't shine…"

Grimmjow sneered up at the woman's display of dominance, he wrapped his hand around her ankle removing her foot from her shoulder. He stood to his full height taking her leg up with him. Shigeru hopped up and down on her free foot, while pushing down the towel as it started to hike up.

"_Let's not flash the dangerous arrancar_," she blushed, while covering her modesty.

Said arrancar released her so she stumbled back. Grimmjow quickly switched their position, slamming her back against the wall, holding her in place with his strong hands on his shoulders. She grunted as more cracks formed behind her. Shigeru's breath hitched as Grimmjow leaned into her face, their noses brushing each other.

"Shigeru...I don't think you're really grasping the situation you're in. You've peaked my interest. I couldn't give a damn about your approval!"

He moved in a little closer, and Shigeru snapped her head to the side, blush lighting her face.

"I'm going to make you mine…," he growled lowly into her ear, brushing his fingers over the mark on the nape of her neck.

Grimmjow released her taking a couple steps back.

"Now, get dressed. Unless you want to walk around it that towel all day," he grinned.

Shigeru growled, _"...I should of punched him through the wall! I still could. Then I can make a break for it and get Hiryu Raitora!"_

She gave up on the thought quickly brushing past him.

"_Stupid Grimmjow, stupid Aizen, stupid me for catching a stupid cold_," Shigeru ranted, throwing her hair over her shoulder.

She lifted up the white clothing, lifting a questioning eyebrow. It looked like the outfit Orihime got when she arrived in Los Noches, but without the puffy sleeves. Shigeru tossed the clothing at Grimmjow, who caught it with one hand.

"What," he blinked, tilting his head in confusion.

Shigeru crossed her arms, cocking her hip to the side, "Yeeeah, I'm not wearing that. Get me something black."

"Why does that color matter? It's just clothes, put them on," Grimmjow frowned in frustration, tossing them back to her.

She sidestepped the clothes causing them to land in a pile on the bed. Shigeru wasn't going to wear the same colors as her enemy. Unlike Orihime who was forced to join, Shigeru wasn't given any ultimatums, just kidnapped. So she preferred to stick with the black of the shinigami. Even if she was against the Soul Society trying to manipulate Ichigo, her, and their friends into being their pawns, she'd take the lesser of two evils, cause damn whatever convoluted scheme Aizen had planned for her.

She sat on the bed, crossing her legs, and cocking her head to the side. Shigeru gave him her toothy grin.

"Either get me some black clothes or I'm not giving you a rematch," she said, eyes shimmering with mischief.

Grimmjow snarled, "Are you shitting me?"

"Nope!"

"Over the color of some rags?!"

"Yep! Plus, they aren't really my style."

"Stop being stupid, and put the damn clothes on!"

"Oh, you're still here? You should really be getting me those clothes I asked for," Shigeru said absently looking at her nails.

Grimmjow was at a loss of words. He placed his arms in his pockets before turning for the door, muttering a string of curses as he did. Kicking the door open, he glared over his shoulder at the grinning girl.

She waved, "Thanks~"

He slammed the door behind him. Shigeru chuckled as she fell back on the bed. She was feeling more like herself.

"_Grimmjow better be prepared for me and my shenanigans since he's so keen on making me...his girlfriend? Whatever, I'll annoy him to the point that he'll give up on that. I'm back on my bullshit,_" she smirked, running her fingers through her semi-tangled hair.

"_And if there's one thing Ichigo has declared as my hidden talent, and it's being annoying!_"

Shigeru snickered evilly as her mind went to work on some pranks.

About ten minutes or so later the blue-haired man returned with clothes in his arm. Shigeru sat up, and quickly caught the black and white clothes tossed her way. She examined the clothes, definitely more pleased but…

"Why don't I have pants," she pouted at him.

Grimmjow growled, "Woman…!"

"Okay! Okay! So _sensitive_," she laughed quickly heading into the bathroom, clothes in one arm and boots in the other.

Grimmjow sat on the couch, clicking his teeth, "Women…"

Shigeru stood fully clothed in front of the mirror. She now sported a black, halter bodysuit exposing her upper back and shoulders. Shigeru was surprised that Grimmjow managed to find a purple belt to loop around her waist. She tugged on a pair of finger less gloves that were comfortably snug on her hands. Black over-the-knee boots, with white trim, perfectly fitted on her legs. She looked in the cabinet to find something to tie her hair up, pulling it in a half up-do. She eyes the cropped white jacket that was provided for her, the linings slightly tattered.

"_It's one of his…_," she noted, inverting it to the black side before slipping it on.

The sleeves completely covered her hands, she sighed rolling the sleeves over her elbows. She fixed the collar, his scent clung to the jacket. Shigeru found it pleasant…

Shigeru stepped out of the bathroom, hands on her hips.

"I don't even want to know how you guessed my bra size," Shigeru commented, adjusting the strapless bra.

Grimmjow scoffed, "Oh, please. I've been with enough women to guess."

"Ew," she wrinkled her nose.

Grimmjow hopped off the couch and grabbed Shigeru by the back of her newly acquired jacket, dragging her out of the room.

"Oh, shut up! Let's go," he rolled his eyes.

* * *

_Training Room_

Shigeru found out a couple of things as Grimmjow dragged her to the "Training Room." One, Aizen appointed Grimmjow her personal caretaker while she's in Los Noches. Two, she was going to be moved to his personal dwellings that all Espada had, so that it would be easier to keep an eye on her. Three, Orihime was also in the Land of the Hollows. Shigeru could sense her reiatsu and surprisingly her orange-haired friend wasn't that far from her current location. And finally, four, it took_ forever_ walking in this place.

The endless hallways were worse than the ungodly stairs of her former college campus.

"Grimmjow, carry me," she whined to the unamused man.

He frowned, "I don't see any problems with your legs, so keep moving."

The brunette pouted before jumping on the man's back. He tried to shake the woman off of him. Shigeru laughed as she rode the man like an electric bull.

"What the hell are you doing," he yelled, flipping her off of his back.

Shigeru yelped as she landed on her ass.

"My butt!"

Grimmjow frowned, "_Is she trying to be annoying on purpose? First the clothes, and now this. She's a completely different person off the battlefield._"

Shigeru got off the ground, brushing the dust from her abused tush. She pouted, "Ichigo would of carried me…"

Ichigo would, in fact, not carry her.

"Well I ain't Kurosaki. Besides we're almost there," Grimmjow declared, walking off leaving the girl kicking proverbial rocks.

She went to catch up with him as he stopped in front of a door. He opened it revealing a large empty but damaged room. Shigeru whistled as she stepped into the room. Once in the center of the room she noticed just how bad the damage was. The beat up room had been better days. It was littered with craters, claw marks, and cracks. It was big enough to do intense training, and it was far enough as to not cause too much of a disturbance to the other arrancars nearby.

While her guard was down, Grimmjow attacked.

Shigeru let out a startled yell as she flipped out of the way. His attack cracked the floor below.

"What the hell?! Can we at least set up some ground rules―," she yelled as she dodged his punch.

"Shut up and fight me!"

Shigeru yelled, "At least toss the sword! Hand-to-hand combat only!"

Without missing a beat he tossed his sword to the side as he continued his assault. He grinned wildly as Shigeru returned the blows. She dropped down, sweeping his feet from under him. Grimmjow caught his balance as he landed on his hand. Shigeru quickly got on her feet.

He grinned, "You're pretty quick! But how long can you keep it up?!"

The Espada sonido-ed over to the brown shinigami, who smirked impishly.

"Oh, you obviously don't know who my masters are," she laughed, her eyes wide with excitement as she blocked his flurry of attacks.

She caught his incoming foot with both hands, lifting the man off of the ground as she spun him around at top speed. Shigeru released him, and he went flying into one of the already damaged walls. He grunted as he created a new crater in the wall. Grimmjow let out a boisterous laugh.

Shigeru sweat-dropped, "_...Oh no. He's going to want to keep this up forever! He's having way too much fun!_"

He burst forward flying toward Shigeru who could only grin.

"Oh, hell! Who cares," she laughed.

The two went at it for what felt like hours, and Grimmjow kept it one-hundred percent hand-to-hand, with the occasional cero and bala (though Shigeru made sure to get him back with some spells of her own).

The room was in even more shambles than when they first started.

The two stood a few feet front each other covered in scrapes, bruises, and small cuts. Shigeru had ditched her jacket long ago, and managed to pull her hair into a high ponytail at some point during their brawl.

Shigeru wiped the blood from her chin, "You ready to call it quits yet?"

"Not until you yield," Grimmjow grinned, spitting bloodied saliva to the side.

"Ha! Yeah, no!"

Shigeru tackled the man to the ground. They rolled around trying to pin the other down. She kneed the man in his side. He grunted as he grabbed his side. She quickly crawled away, but he grabbed her leg, dragging her right back under him. Shigeru pulled at Grimmjow's blue hair when he got on top of her, pulling him from over her. She rolled on top of him and he returned the treatment grabbing her ponytail giving it a good, hard tug.

"Ow!"

"Doesn't feel so good, now does it?!"

They grappled at each other's clothes and limbs. Shigeru grabbed the man by his wrist, slamming them on either side of his head. They were both a disheveled mess.

"Pinned you," she huffed triumphantly, tightening her grip on his wrist.

Shigeru hunched over trying to catch her breath as she closed her eyes. Grimmjow looked up at the woman on top of him as his chest rose and fell, catching his breath as well. Sweat rolled down her brown skin, he eyed the scar peaking over her shoulder that extends down her back. His eyes traveled up to Shigeru's face. Flashes of her wild and excited expressions as they fought flickered through his mind. There was a primal energy she radiated, an energy that ignited something deep, deep, deep within him, but her relaxed expression right now...it stirred something unknown in him.

He leaned forward, eyes half-lidded, his blue locks falling into his face. Their faces mere inches from hers, breath intermingling. Shigeru suddenly leaned back sitting on his thigh as she opened her eyes releasing his wrist.

"That was a fun workout, wasn't―why're looking at me like that," she tilted her head.

He looked almost disappointed for some reason she didn't understand.

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, "_Tch…_"

He quickly sat up throwing her off balance. Shigeru yelped as she fell back, but Grimmjow wrapped an arm around her waist pulling her into his lap. She tried to lean as far back from him as she could.

"Would you stop doing this," she complained as he added pressure to his hold around her waist.

He tilted his head to the side, smirking, "Stop doing what?"

"This," Shigeru frowned, slapping a hand on the arm around her waist, "being so damn touchy-feely! It's weird!"

Grimmjow blinked and then his grin widened as he brought his hand up to her scared shoulder, "Why does this make you so uncomfortable? Not used to being hit on? You don't seem like the shy type."

He traced his fingers up her neck. She shivered before slapping his hand away.

"I'm _not_ shy, but jeez! Personal space is a thing, ya know," Shigeru frowned as she tried to get off of his lap.

He pulled her back down smirking, "Yeah, but I don't mind you invading my personal space. You are mine after all…"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not―"

"How'd you get that scar on your back?"

Shigeru subconsciously reached over to touch her back. She frowned glancing off to the side, looking nowhere in particular.

"Ask your boss…,"she said offhandedly.

He's eyes widened from pure surprise, "You _fought_ Aizen?"

"Wasn't really much of a fight, but yeah. He did this," she shrugged, dropping her hand to her side.

As nonchalant she may have seemed Grimmjow saw the venom in her eyes just thinking about the scar on her back.

"_But to think that she went against that bastard and lived...she truly is something. Makes me want her even more,_" he thought as he ran a finger along the dark scar.

She grabbed his hand and frowned at him. Grimmjow lowered both of his arms, leaning back on them.

"Can we get food now? I'm hungry," Shigeru pouted, as she took her hair out of the ponytail that was squishing her brains.

* * *

_The Next Day_

Shigeru sat in the middle of the floor of her room, seemingly meditating.

After trying and failing to search for human food in the part of the building they were in, Shigeru practically yelled at him to just ask Ulquiorra to find her something to eat. Which led to a not so lengthy round of questions on how she even knew who Ulquiorra was.

"_I make it my life's mission to remember people's names_," _she smirked at the annoyed Espada._

She healed their scrapes and bruises while they waited for her meal. Then the man brooded around the room as Shigeru asked him a million-and-one questions: Do the Espada need to hunt souls in the World of the Living, or are you guys just like self-sustaining after a while? How long did it take you to become a Vasto Lordes? Do you use hair gel to get your hair like that? What do you do for fun besides killing weaklings? Where does the water come from for Aizen's tea? Do you purr like a cat if someone pets you? Can you bring me pajamas and more underwear? Was that last request too weird? If I stuck my hand through your hole, what would it feel like?

At that last question he finally had enough and left for the night, slamming the knob-less door behind him, and she went to sleep soon after. When she woke up, she assumed it was the next day, it was hard to tell since there was no sun just everlasting night. She felt better than she did yesterday. As she was washing her face and freshening up she felt a familiar tug on the back of her mind.

"Hiryu Raitora?"

That's why she was on the ground. She was focusing on the connection she shared with her zanpakuto spirits. Shigeru still couldn't hear them clearly, her eyebrows pinched together. She tugged back on the connection, trying to pinpoint their location.

She was so focused that she didn't notice Grimmjow enter the room with a platter of food.

He placed the platter on the couch.

"What are you doing," he asked curiously, stepping closer to her.

Shigeru could almost hear them again.

Grimmjow frowned and stood over the unresponsive girl, "I don't like to be ignored, Shigeru…"

She called out to the tiger and dragon spirit. She was just picking up their voices when…

"Hey," Grimmjow yelled leaning forward.

Shigeru shot up, headbutting the Espada in the chin. Grimmjow went flying back, hitting his head on the floor.

"Gyah! Ouch! What the hell," she whined, cradling her head.

She looked over to find Grimmjow laid out on the floor then to the steaming meal on the couch.

Grimmjow was completely motionless on the ground. Shigeru poked his unmasked cheek, but he didn't so much as stir.

She laughed nervously, "Oh, I'm going to pay for that later…"

Shigeru stood to full height. Lucky for her Grimmjow didn't close the door all the way.

She grinned down at her lovely caretaker.

"Thank you, Blueberry," she whispered to him, slipping a pillow under his head.

She cautiously stepped into the hallway.

"_I'll find you guys today for sure_," Shigeru declared.

* * *

Shigeru walked the halls of Los Noches, as that familiar force pulled her toward it with nothing but the sound of her footsteps to keep her company. She had wandered off pretty far from where her room was.

"_There is a crazy lack of security around here. If anything it should be like that damned production set for Don Kanonji's stupid ass show,"_ she frowned in annoyance just thinking about that experience.

"Those stupid security guards...," she muttered to herself.

The pulling was getting even stronger. She stopped in front of a door.

"_Here!_"

Shigeru slowly opened the door. It opened up to a gigantic golden room filled. There wasn't anything except for some thick golden pillars.

"That's odd. Why put them in an empty room," she pondered aloud, stepping further into the room.

"_Hiryu Raitora, can you hear me now_," Shigeru asked frantically as she scanned the room.

Walking quickly and stealthy she stopped when she heard a rattling further in the room.

"_Little one, this way_," they both answered.

Shigeru shunpo-ed toward the rattling, stopping in front of her beloved twin blades. She hugged the zanpakutos close to her chest, sighing with relief. Shigeru didn't even realize just how anxious she was without them.

"_I've missed you guys_," she exclaimed through their link.

The dragon-woman cried with relief, "_Little one, it's so good to hear your voice! Did they do anything to harm you?_"

"_No! No! I'm completely fine. Well, Grimmjow bit me again but―_," she laughed nervously.

The were-tiger growled, "_He what?! Where?!_"

She rubbed the back of her neck, "_Uh, the back of my neck. Why?_"

"_You better electrocute the man next time you see him! That bastard! Better yet tear him open in your bankai form_," he growled angrily.

"_Uh…_"

He continued his rant, "_Actually, I'll do it! Just let me take over your body for a few minutes!"_

"_Yeah, that'll never happen, big guy," _she giggled, missing her volatile tiger spirit.

He yelled, "_Don't laugh! This isn't a laughing matter!_"

"_Why not? You're freaking out for no reason_," she shrugged her shoulders, cringing from the ringing in her head due to his booming voice.

The dragon-woman sighed completely exasperated, "_Grimmjow wants to make you his mate, Little One…_"

"_HIS WHAT?!_"

"Hey, lady! Who the hell are you," a child's voice called from behind her.

The woman practically jumped out of her skin almost dropping her swords in the process. Shigeru clutched her zanpakuto's close to her chest as she looked over her shoulder and saw a girl probably around Karin and Yuzu's age. She had short, lime-green hair, and a large pink eye, her horned helmet-like hollow mask on top of her head covering her left eye. Lilynette glared up at Shigeru with her hands on her hips.

Shigeru smiled, waving awkwardly, "Oh, hello…"

Her brown eyes scanned the area, landing on the pile of large green cushions to her right. Shigeru's eyes widened a faction as they landed on the person on the makeshift bed. Stark snoozed away without a care in the world. She was so focused on finding Hiryu Raitora that she ignored any and all other reiatsu signatures. However, she counted her lucky stars that it was Stark she ran into and not any of the other Espada (well Haribel and Ulquiorra wouldn't be that bad in her opinion since they weren't unreasonable just cold and aloof).

"Who are you," the young arrancar repeated.

Shigeru slid her swords into her belt, smiling, "I'm Shigeru, and you're…?"

The young arrancar placed her hands on her hips proudly, "Lilynette Gingerbuck!"

"Well it's nice to meet you Lilynette," the brunette beamed.

Lilynette stepped closer to the woman, sizing her up. She fit the description of one of the women that were brought to Los Noches recently.

"You're the one the woman from Stark's mission...how was it fighting him," the girl beamed cheerfully, hopping back and forth in front of her.

Shigeru furrowed her brows together. She was slightly taken aback by the child's excitement, but she was also a little lost. Though it did explain how she got to Hueco Mundo.

"_Aizen must really think highly of my strength to send powerhouse number 1 to 'retrieve' me. Did he really think I would fight Stark of all people? The guy is wayyy too chill, plus I like him_," she laughed to herself.

Lilynette looked up at her with her pink eye sparkling brightly waiting for an answer.

Shigeru chuckled, placing a hand on the smaller girl's head, "Whoa there! Sadly, I never got a chance to fight him, but I know he's strong, right?"

"You bet he is! He's the strongest one there is," she beamed happily, "do you want to talk to him? I'll wake him for you!"

"No, you don't have to have―"

The small bundle of energy jumped onto the man's stomach. The man yelped from shock.

"Stark! Wake up!"

"Gyah, Lilynette! What are you doing?!"

Shigeru sweat-dropped and rubbed her stomach in sympathy. She felt kind of bad for the poor man. That is a horrible way to wake up. Her little cousins have done it to her plenty of times.

"Look! We've got company," she grinned, excitedly.

Stark ran a gloved hand through his wavy, chocolate hair as he opened a steely blue eye. Shigeru waved at the man.

"Hi, there," she chirped.

He hummed, eyes slowly landing on the swords at her waist. Shigeru followed his gaze.

"Oh yeah! Thanks for taking care of Hiryu Raitora, but you could have left them with me, ya know," she pouted, pointing an accusing hand at him.

Stark raised a lazy brow, "Is that right? You sure you wouldn't have wreaked havoc throughout Los Noches?"

"Maybe just a little," Shigeru grinned, stepping closer to the two, eyeing the comfy looking pillows on the ground.

Lilynette noticed her staring and decided to pull her down into cushion galore.

"Don't just stand there!"

Shigeru let out a startled noise as she nosedived into the cushions besides the two arrancars. Her body sunk into the mountain of pillows.

"Oh my god! These cushions _are_ comfortable," Shigeru sighed into the cushion as her pillow relaxed.

Stark smirked, "_She's pretty funny, and here I thought it was because she was delirious the other day._"

The Primera Espada sensed the reiatsu of a certain blue-haired arrancar who was supposed to be on caretaker duty elsewhere within Los Noches. However, he wasn't moving, so Stark assumed that he was sleeping or knocked out by someone. He raised a brow at the brown shinigami rolling around in the cushions with Lilynette, both giggling.

He folded his hands behind his head, lounging back against the pillar behind him.

"So how'd you give Grimmjow the slip," he asked, semi-curious.

Shigeru froze, then laughed nervously, "Well, you see...I kind of accidentally knocked him out..."

Stark and Lilynette froze, turning to look at the embarrassed Shigeru as a blush lit her face.

"How?"

"Um, head-butt to the chin...but I'm pretty sure his skull ricocheting off the floor is what knocked him cold," she admitted.

Lilynette stared up at Shigeru with eyes full of mirth and wonder, "You're so my hero…"

"He's going to rip you apart," Stark chuckled.

Shigeru flopped into her cushion muffling her voice as she whined.

"I know~"

Shigeru chatted with the two for a while, and she was truly enjoying the company. It reminded her of spending time with Ichigo and Rukia, the way the two arrancar's bickered, though Lilynette was the main antagonizer for the most part. She smiled at the two knowing what it is that they always wanted...

"Hey, Stark, Lilynette…?"

The two glanced over to Shigeru as she kicked her legs in the air absently.

"Wanna be my friend," she beamed at the two.

Pink and blue-gray eyes widened.

"What," Lilynette whispered.

Shigeru leaned against her arm and explained, "Well, you two are the friendliest people that I've met in this place so far, and I can tell that you're just lonely… Therefore, you guys just need a friend."

She motioned to herself in a grand fashion.

"Perfect friendship material right here in front of you!"

The smaller girl was the first to reply.

The green-haired girl shouted, "You idiot! There's no way we can be friends!"

Shigeru rolled on to her back and gazed at the girl questioningly, her brows pinched together, "Why's that?"

Lilynette looked off in sadness, "Because...you're just a human. Eventually you'll waste away just by being near us. Just like all the rest…"

Shigeru smiled, placing a hand on the girl's helmet.

"Well there's a couple of things wrong with that. One, I'm not a normal human, or even a normal shinigami,"

She glanced over to Stark.

"Two, I'm strong and I do mean _strong_. Your reiatsu isn't doing anything harmful to me. If anything it's gives of a sad and melancholy feeling, but that's how I _know_ you two are lonely,"

She grins at the two widely.

"And third but not least! I'm just stubborn, so I'll hang out with you two even if you don't want me too! Besides I can't be around grumpy ass Grimmjow all the time! It'll drive me crazy," she crossed her arms over her chest.

The two arrancars looked at each other as if they were communicating telepathically. Stark sits up and sighs deeply.

He shrugs his shoulders, "Sure why not…"

Lilynette's pink eye widened and she smiled sweetly. Shigeru crawled over to the man beamed.

"Really?!"

He nodded his head. She gave him a quick hug, "Aw, Wolfie! You're the best!"

Stark chuckled, "Oh so you remember that?"

"Remember what," she asked, tilting her head.

Stark smirked, "_That's right she was completely out of it…_"

"Well…"

Stark went to tell the girls what transpired a couple of days ago much to Shigeru's horrified embarrassment. She covered her face with both her hands and tried to smother herself in the cushions below. She couldn't believe she basically snuggled with her kidnapper (Stark) while lovingly calling him by the nickname she came up with while watching the series, kicked angry ass Yammy through several walls, and told Aizen _to his face_ that she thought he was hot.

"_Ugh, why didn't someone knock me out_," she whined trying to become one with the cushions.

After laughing and teasing the brunette some more the two girls ran and played around the room for a while. Shigeru flopped back down on the cushions tuckered out from all the excitement. It amazed her just how much of an actual child the smaller arrancar acted like.

"_Friends that nap together, thrive together_," Shigeru smiled as she closed her brown eyes.

Lilynette snuggled into her side already snoozing away, both of them covered by her jacket. Stark cracked open his lazy steely eyes to look at the slumbering girls. He lightly patted the head of the strange substitute shinigami girl that he agreed to be friends with on a whim. He would admit that it made him happy hearing the girl's offer in friendship, and he could sense the great spiritual power coming from her. She was unlike the other creatures in the land they lived in. True to her word she was powerful, but there was still the mild concern in the back of his head about just how long that strength would keep her safe from the power he and Lilynette exude.

He closed his eyes thinking of the mountains of bodies that surrounded him and his counterpart before Aizen appeared before them.

Stark cracked open his eyes when he felt a familiar reiatsu flare up angrily.

"_Looks like he's finally awake…_," he sighed, getting more comfortable on the cushions.

The door to his domain was kicked open a few moments later. Grimmjow kicked a hole in the wall next to the door of the golden domain sporting an angry red mark on his chin and a knot on the back of his head. His body emitting "you pissed me off any further and you'll die" energy.

He snarled as his left eye twitched, "I know you're in here, Shigeru!"

"Grimmjow...we've talked about this. Use the door," Stark sighed like an exasperated parent.

It was the 30th time the Sexta had decided to knock a gaping hole into the wall instead of just simply opening the door that was a mere foot away. He could already hear the lower-level arrancars complaining about the repairs they'd have to do _again_.

Grimmjow perked up at the sound of the normally lazy leader of the Espada. He stomped over to him preparing to take out his frustrations on him. Stark brought a finger to his lips, signalling the raging man to silence himself.

"The girls are sleeping. Don't wake them," he pointed out, stopping the possible rampage.

Grimmjow glanced down at Shigeru and Lilynette's sleeping forms. The girls looked peaceful and relaxed.

Grimmjow glared at how close Shigeru was to the other male in the room and growled at Stark.

"I'm not interested in her in that way, so stop with the growling already," Stark said as he opened his eyes to look at his fellow Espada.

Stark was curious about Grimmjow's behavior. He was never one to care about other females outside of his needs, but it was different with the human laying next to him. It was a little strange seeing his usually overly hostile friends so angsty about a girl.

"_Well she is certainly different that's for sure. I can see her appeal. I think it has to do with her odd soul. It's hard to explain…_," Stark contemplated as he gazed down at the lightly snoring Shigeru.

Grimmjow bent down to lift the girl up, "Keep it that way. I'm not into sharing."

As Shigeru shifted closer to her caretaker, Stark caught a glimpse of the bite on her neck. His eyes widened a fraction.

His jaw dropped and he covered his mouth to hold in his laugh, "_I see how it is! That's why he's acting weird._"

He had noticed the faint scent of the Sexta on the girl, but that could have just been the fact that they were with each other often. He never would have thought that Grimmjow would mark her for_ that_. Such an odd choice on his behalf...

Grimmjow blinked as Shigeru wrapped her hands around his neck, making herself comfy.

"Now who's invading who's personal space," he smirked at the sleeping girl, brushing her hair out of her face.

He turned on his heels to exit the room.

Stark called out, "You know, that mark is only for show, right? Unless you mark her while you two do the deed it's not really valid…"

Grimmjow looked over his shoulder to give the man an unreadable look.

"Doesn't matter. I've claimed her and I'll destroy anyone that tries to take her. She's far too interesting to give up," Grimmjow declared like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He left the room without sparing the other Espada a second glance.

Once they were back in the room he dropped her on the bed unceremoniously. She bounced up and down on the bed.

"Rude…," she muttered before hugging the pillow.

Grimmjow scoffed, "You woke up five minutes ago. Faker…"

"Still rude…," she mumbled into the pillow.

Grimmjow crossed his arms and sneered at the young substitute shinigami, "Wanna talk about this?"

He motioned to his reddened chin and small knot on his head.

Shigeru slowly turned to face the man and innocently asked, "Can we not?"

Grimmjow cracked his knuckles, smirking.

"Think again…"

Shigeru whined with crocodile tears running down her face.

"Noooo! It was an accident! I promise!"

**Author's Notes: Well that was certainly long, wasn't it? I'll be honest with you guys I didn't really like the chapter. Maybe it's because I haven't worked on the story in a month. Grimmjow and Stark seem kind of out of character for me right now, but I'll correct it in the next couple chapters. I hope you guys like it despite my judgement of myself. I'm back though, that's all that matters!** **It's good to see you all still review while I was away! Next chapter to come! **


	17. Just an Announcement

**JUST AN ANNOUNCEMENT **

*Shigeru spawns out of nowhere wearing a white button down top, black slacks, and blazer draped over her shoulders like a cape*

"ANNOUNCEMENT! ANNOUNCEMENT!

This is Shigeru Kuroi reporting in! Coming to you live from Grimmjowlover314's head!"

*Grimmjowlover314 gets yanked to a couch and blinded by spotlights in her sport bra and fuzzy Grinch pajama bottoms*

"Gyahh! Shigeru! What the fuck!"

*Shigeru shoves a microphone in her creator's face squishing her cheek*

"So the people have been wondering, just when are you going to update the story about yours truly?! Huh? Huh? When? When?!"

*GrimLover gently pushes the mic out of her cheek and squints*

"First of all….how the hell are you doing this?! Are we in my subconsciousness?"

*Shigeru give her signature toothy grin while snickering*

"Oh, you know I have my ways~But back on topic! Questions! Answers! Please!"

*Vein throbs on GrimLover's head at her lovely creations antics*

*GrimLover flops back on the couch*

"Yeah, yeah! Okay...first and foremost I haven't abandoned the story guys. I just keep getting pulled away from the writing process because, you know, life."

*Shigeru nods her head*

"Yes, yes, life is so trash lately! Well not for me 'cause I'm living the fun life-"

*GrimLover flicks the hyper girls forehead*

"I do have the power to turn that so-called "fun life" into an angst filled abyss. Keep it up!"

*Shigeru whines as she rubs her abused forehead*

"Nooo~ So mean~"

*GrimLover turns back to the audience*

"Like I was saying, I'm still working on the new chapter meant for August, but as I said life. It's almost done actually, but I want to work on 2 more before updating to make up for September and October. That way you guys get a 3 chapter update at once! Doesn't that sound nice! Besides I'm always thinking of my favorite OC to date!"

*Shigeru perks up as her creator pats her on the head lovingly*

"Awww you think of me! Well I am the very best that no one ever was!"

*GrimLover runs a hand down her face in exasperation*

"Why're you like this?"

*Shigeru hopped out of her seat and twirls*

"You make me this wayyyy. Now, on to the next topic! Who do I end up with?!"

*GrimmLover smirks evilly. Shigeru feels a sudden chill run up her back*

"I thought that would be obvious by now, my dear imaginative child~"

*Shigeru frowns lowering her mic*

"You're kidding...I demand a recount!"

"Recount? We didn't even take a vote to begin with…"

"Exactly! I wanna vote for who my future lover will be!"

*GrimLover gave Shigeru a toothy grin*

"Nah. You like him. As a matter a fact, let's bring him out!"

*Shigeru drops her mic*

"Do what now?!"

*GrimLover snapped her fingers. Grimmjow drops from above, bouncing from the couch, and to the ground*

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

*Shigeru grabs her creator by the shoulders and shakes her*

"Why would you do this?! *blinks* Wait, how did you do this?"

*She's still being shaken*

"I...Have..my..wayyss"

*Grimmjow notices Shigeru and a smirk spreads across his face and he looks her up and down*

"Looking good over there Shigeru. I think I should get a closer look at you. Don't you agree?"

*Shigeru freezes, pales, and then... She ran away*

"Get back here, Shigeru! You can't run from me! You know I'll catch you~"

*Grimmjow chases after her. Various crashes, Shigeru's screams, and Grimmjow's laughter are heard*

*GrimmjowLover314 picks up the abandoned mic and give the camera a lazy smile*

"Be patient with me guys. I'll be updating as quickly as I can-"

*A disheveled Shigeru runs by, Grimmjow hot on her heels*

"WHY DO YOU HATE ME, MOTHER?!"

*Her creator snickers before cupping her mouth*

"It's all out of love, dear! Treat her right, my future son-in-law!"

"I'm treating her like a queen!"

"STOP ENCOURAGING HIM! GYAH! STOP HUGGING ME!"

*The amused creator laughs*

"More of Shigeru and her adventures in _I've Been Isekai-ed_ will continue soon! Be on the lookout! I'm sure you'll be pleased. Until then, stay safe and healthy everyone!"

*GrimmjowLover314 leans back on the couch with a newly spawned bowl of popcorn as she she watching Shigeru throw her heel at Grimmjow as he continues to chase her*


End file.
